SOME  PHASES  OF  THE  WORK 

OF  THE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STREET  CLEANING 

OF 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Prepared  and  Published  by 
THE  BUREAU  OF  CITY  BETTERMENT 
OF  THE  CITIZENS  UNION 
New  York.  1906 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


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Because  it  has  heen  said 
" Sver'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  Y<  >rk  Library 


THE  BUREAU  OF  CITY  BETTERMENT 

CITIZENS  UNION 
254  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York. 


COMMITTEE. 

COL-  CHARI.ES  H.  JONES  R.  FULTON  CUTTING 

CYRUS  L.  SULZBERGER  JOHN  J.  MURPHY  ISAAC  S.  WHEATON 

JAMES  B.  REYNOLDS,  Chairman,  HENRY  BRUERE,  Secretary. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


http://archive.org/details/somephasesofworkOOciti 


CONTENTS. 

*  Page 
Note,  Brooklyn 

An  Ordinance   I 

Foreword   2 

Powers  and  duties  of  Street  Cleaning  Commissioners   4 

Summaries— Colonel  Waring — Major  Woodbury   7 

The  house  to  house  inquiry  of  the  Bureau  of  City  Betterment  11 

The  Brooklyn  Ash  Contract  14 

Snow  removal  17 

"Incidental"  expenditures  of  the  D.  S.  C.  under 

Commissioner  Woodbury  20 

The  purchase,  sale  and  hiring  of  horses  by  the  D.  S.  C   .23 

The  rent  roll  of  the  D.  S.  C.  under  Commissioner  Woodbury  25 

The  report  of  Commissioner  Woodbury  for  the  years, 

1902-1903-1904-1905  27 

Trimming  30 

Final  disposition  32 

The  present  organization  of  the  D.  S.  C  33 

Street  Cleaning  in  other  cities  35 

Philadelphia  35 

Washington  36 

St.  Paul  37 

St.  Louis  ,  38 

Rochester  38 

Boston  3** 

Cleveland  39 

Chicago  39 

Buffalo  40 

Baltimore  41 

Dresden,  Germany.    42 


NOTE. 

In  Brooklyn  the  attention  of  the  Bureau  of  City  Better- 
ment has  been  primarily  called  to  the  removal  of  ashes  and 
garbage,  as  the  Commissioner  states  in  his  report  that  he 
has  not  been  able  to  satisfactorily  attend  to  the  cleaning  of 
streets  in  that  borough.  Indeed,  the  disposition  of  forces  of 
street  sweepers  plainly  indicates  that  he  has  discriminated  in 
favor  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  as  against  Brooklyn.  Of 
the  total  number  of  street  cleaners,  2,434,  1,769  are  available 
for  duty  in  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx,  with  487.24  miles  of 
paved  street,  665  being  assigned  to  Brooklyn  with  its  534.19 
miles  of  paved  streets. 

It  must  be  remembered,  of  course,  that  the  traffic  in  Man- 
hattan is  vastly  greater  than  in  Brooklyn,  and  that  in  some 
of  the  streets  and  avenues  it  is  necessary  to  detail  one  sweep- 
er to  every  three  blocks.  Even  with  the  aid  of  this  discrim- 
ination against  Brooklyn,  Major  Woodbury  still  employs  a 
smaller  number  of  street  sweepers  to  the  mile  in  Manhattan 
and  the  Bronx  than  did  Colonel  Waring.  It  would  seem  that 
if  the  Brooklyn  streets  were  to  be  properly  cleaned  the  Depart- 
ment must  have  an  increase  in  its  appropriation  in  order  to 
supply  additional  sweepers  for  the  needs  of  Brooklyn. 


AN  ORDINANCE  regulating  the  cleaning  of  streets  and 
sidewalks  and  keeping  them  clean,  and  removing  snow  and 
ice,  dirt  and  other  materials  therefrom  in  the  City  of  New 
York. 

Section  i.  No  person  or  persons  shall  throw,  cast  or  lay, 
or  direct,  suffer  or  permit  any  servant,  agent  or  employee  to 
throw,  cast  or  lay  any  ashes,  offal,  vegetable,  garbage,  dross, 
cinders,  shells,  straw,  shavings,  paper,  dirt,  filth,  or  rubbish  of 
any  kind  whatsoever  in  any  street  in  the  City  of  New  York 
either  upon  the  roadway  or  sidewalk  thereof,  except  that  in  the 
morning  before  eight  o'clock  or  before  the  first  sweeping  of  the 
roadway  by  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  in  the  Bor- 
oughs of  Manhattan,  Brooklyn  and  the  Bronx,  dust  from  the 
sidewalk  may  be  swept  into  the  gutter,  if  there  piled,  but  not 
otherwise,  and  at  no  other  time. 

The  willful  violation  of  any  of  the  foregoing  provisions  of 
thi's  section  shall  be  and  is  hereby  declared  to  be  a  misde- 
meanor and  shall  be  punished  'by  a  fine  of  not  less  than  one 
dollar  and  not  'more  than  ten  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  for 
a  term  of  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  five  days. 

Section  4.  No  one  being  the  owner,  driver,  manager  or 
conductor  of  any  cart  or  other  vehicle,  or  of  any  receptacle, 
shall  scatter,  drop  or  spill,  or  permit  to  be  scattered,  dropped 
or  spilled,  any  dirt,  sand,  gravel,  clay,  loam,  stone  or  building 
rubbish,  or  hay,  straw,  oats,  sawdust,  shaving  or  other  light 
material  of  any  sort  or  manufacturing  trade,  or  hpusehold 
waste,  refuse,  rubbish  of  any  sort,  or  ashes  or  manure,  gar- 
bage or  other  organic  refuse  or  other  offensive  matter  there- 
from, or  permit  the  same  to  be  blown  off  therefrom  by  the 
wind,  in  or  upon  any  street,  avenue  or  public  place. 

Section  5.  No  person  shall  throw,  cast  or  distribute  in  or 
upon  any  of  the  streets,  avenues  or  public  places,  or  in  any 
front  yards  or  stoops,  any  handbills,  circulars,  cards  or  other 
advertising  matter  whatsoever. 

Section  315,  Charter.  "It  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the 
police  department  and  force,  at  all  times  of  day  and  night, 
and  members  of  such  force  are  hereby  thereunto  empowered, 
to  ...  .  enforce  and  prevent  the  violation  of  all  laws  and 
ordinances  in  force  in  said  city." 


1 


FOREWORD. 


In  the  following  report  an  effort  has  been  made  to  present 
information  relative  to  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  of 
interest  to  the  public.  The  report  is  neither  a  comprehensive 
study  of  the  problem  of  street  cleaning  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  nor  an  "investigation''  of  the  present  administration  of 
the  department.  It  is,  merely,  a  statement  of  the  facts 
from  which  conclusions  have  been  drawn  only  when  they  are 
obvious.  The  information  contained  in  this  report  is  such  as 
any  citizen  might  obtain  on  inquiry  and  by  examination  of 
the  public  records.  For  much  of  it  the  Bureau  is  indebted  to 
the  commissioner,  Major  John  McGaw  Woodbury. 

The  report  does  not  maintain  that  the  streets  of  the  City 
of  New  York  are  clean.  It  is  already  public  knowledge  that 
the  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning  admits  his  inability 
under  present  conditions  either  to  clean  the  whole  of  Brook- 
lyn or  to  clean  the  230  odd  miles  of  asphalt  in  Manhattan. 
•For  his  failure  to  clean  the  Brooklyn  streets  he  argues  an  in- 
sufficient force  at  his  disposal  for  the  work  to  be  done  there. 
That  the  paved  mileage  of  Brooklyn  streets  is  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  sweepers  employea  there,  no  one 
will  question.  It  is  impossible,  he  declares,  to  clean  sheet 
asphalt  without  an  abundant  use  of  water  in  flushing.  This 
water  he  is  prohibited  from  using. 

The  commissioner  further  states  that  large  sections  of  the 
streets  on  the  East  Side  cannot  be  cleaned  because  of  the 
litter  from  the  peddlers'  pushcarts.  He  argues  further  that 
the  incessant  opening  of  streets  over  which  he  has  no  control 
and  the  dirt  resulting  from  the  widespread  building  opera- 
tions makes  the  problem  of  clean  streets  a  difficult,  if  not 
impossible  one  to  solve. 

It  is  conceivable,  however,  that,  with  a  sufficient  force  and 
proper  supervision  all  of  the  well-paved  streets  of  the  city 
could  be  kept  as  nearly  clean  as  it  is  physically  possible  to 
keep  clean  the  highways  of  incessant  traffic  and  thousands  of 
horses. 

Accepting  the  prevalent  opinion  that  the  streets  are  not 
clean  now  and  that  they  were  clean  during  Colonel  Waring's 


2 


administration,  the  Bureau  sought  to  determine,  if  possible, 
what  advantages,  if  any,  Colonel  Waring  possessed  over  the 
present  commissioner  in  his  war  against  dirty  streets.  The 
comparative  data  of  the  two  administrations  are  presented 
on  page  7.  It  is  conclusively  shown  that  Colonel  Waring 
commanded  greater  resources  for  the  work  of  street  clean- 
ing than  does  Major  Woodbury.  The  enormous  increase  in 
population  and  the  growth  of  traffic  during  the  past  ten  years 
renders  difficult  an  accurate  comparison  of  the  efficiency  of 
the  two  administrations. 

On  the  other  hand.  Major  Woodbury  has  236  miles  of 
asphalt  out  of  a  total  of  401  miles  of  paved  streets  (not  includ- 
ing macadam)  in  Manhattan,  while  Colonel  Waring  had  only 
123  out  of  a  total  mileage  of  380.  It  is  universally  recognized 
that  sheet  asphalt  is  the  least  difficult  pavement  to  clean. 

In  order  to  test  the  prevalent  opinion  of  the  character  of 
the  work  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  a  house  to 
house  inquiry  was  conducted  in  various  sections  of  the  bor- 
oughs of  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn.  This  inquiry  related 
primarily  to  the  question  of  garbage,  ash  and  rubbish  collec- 
tion, and,  incidentally,  to  the  cleaning  of  the  streets.  The 
canvass  covered  414  premises,  consisting  of  private  dwellings, 
tenements,  business  houses,  theatres  and  hotels.  The  dwell- 
ings, tenements  and  busines  houses  were  selected  in  blocks  in 
the  upper  east  and  west  sides  of  Manhattan,  in  the  lower  east 
and  west  sides,  and  in  the  center  of  that  borough,  and  in  the 
tenement,  business  and  dwelling  districts  in  Brooklyn.  The 
facts  ascertained  are  presented  for  what  they  are  worth. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  insure  the  accuracy  of  the  informa- 
tion secured.  The  results  of  this  inquiry  are  presented  on 
the  table  following  page  12. 

Criticism  of  the  commissioner  might  well  be  directed 
against  his  employment  of  padrone  labor  in  the  operation  of 
the  incinerator  at  Delancey  Street.  This  matter  is  discussed 
on  page  31. 

The  Bureau  believes  that  the  condition  of  the  streets  would 
be  greatly  improved  if  the  public  observed  the  ordinance 
printed  on  page  1  of  this  report.  Colonel  Waring  attributed 
a  large  part  of  his  success  in  fighting  filthy  streets  to  the  co- 
operation of  the  citizens.  A  civic  pride  was  developed  which 
made  the  ordinance  forbidding  the  throwing  of  rubbish  and 
litter  in  the  streets,  an  active  part  of  the  citizen's  code  of 
conduct.  The  most  casual  inspection  of  the  streets  to-day 
reveals  the  fact  that  the  present  administration  enjoys  but  little 
of  this  cooperation.  Piles  of  waste  paper,  garbage  and  store 
refuse  are  everywhere  found  upon  the  public  highways.  The 

3. 


ordinance  forbidding  the  sweeping  of  litter  from  sidewalks 
into  streets,  after  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  is  notoriously 
ignored. 

The  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning  should  be  at  once  the 
servant  of  the  public  and  its  instructor  in  good  housekeeping. 
A  successful  captain  of  men  can  never  succeed  in  keeping  the 
streets  clean  unless  he  is  equally  successful  in  inspiring  the 
cooperation  of  the  public.  Major  Woodbury,  it  is  believed, 
has  hitherto  failed  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  attempting 
to  educate  the  public  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that  no  street 
can  be  clean  unless  the  people  who  use  it  or  live  upon  it  refrain 
from  unnecessary  littering  it.  This  is  a  matter  in  which  the 
education  of  the  public  should  be  unintermittent.  In  this  edu- 
cation the  police  can  materially  assist  by  the  enforcement  of 
the  above  mentioned  ordinance,  which  they  have  hitherto  ap- 
parently ignored. 


POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  THE  STREET  CLEANING 
COMMISSIONER. 

The  sections  of  the  Charter  which  prescribe  the  functions 
of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  place  a  large  discre- 
tionary power  in  the  hands  of  the  commissioner  or  head  of 
this  department.  His  authority  extends  only  to  three  bor- 
oughs— Manhattan,  the  Bronx  and  Brooklyn — the  respective 
borough  presidents  having  charge  of  the  work  of  street 
cleaning  in  Queens  and  Richmond.  Within  the  territory  un- 
der his  jurisdiction  the  commissioner  has  control  of  the 
sweeping  of  the  streets ;  of  the  removal  and  disposition  as 
often  as  the  public  'health  and  the  use  of  the  streets  may 
require,  of  ashes,  street  sweepings,  garbage  and  other  light 
refuse  and  rubbish,  and  of  the  removal  of  snow  and  ice  from 
leading  thoroughfares  and  such  other  streets  as  may  be  found 
practicable.  He  has  no  control  over  the  cleaning  of  macadam- 
ized streets  within  the  public  parks  or  under  the  management 
of  the  Department  of  Parks,  or  such  wharves,  piers  and  bulk- 
heads, slips,  and  parts  of  streets  as  are  by  law  committed  to 
the  custody  of  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries. 

One  of  the  duties  of  the  commissioner  is  to  cause  the  re- 
moval from  the  streets  of  unused  vehicles,  bales,  boxes  and 
other  incumbrances,  allowing  the  owners  of  the  property 
seized  an  opportunity  to  redeem  the  same  on  payment  of  a 
fine.  Unredeemed  property  may  be  sold  by  the  commissioner, 
who  is  authorized  to  pay  all  proceeds  above  the  expense  of 
seizure,  removal  and  sale,  to  the  owner.  Apparently  the 
right  to  issue  permits  to  builders  and  other  persons  to  use 

4 


the  streets  for  storage  purposes  devolves  upon  the  commis- 
sioner, but  there  is  some  conflict  of  authority  in  the  matter 
and  the  respective  borough  presidents  now  exercise  the  privi- 
lege. 

The  Charter  clothes  the  commissioner  with  authority  to 
frame  regulations  controlling  the  use  of  sidewalks  and  gutters 
for  the  disposition  of  sweepings,  refuse  and  garbage,  which, 
upon  approval  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  shall  be  published 
as  city  ordinances.  The  existing  ordinance  relating  to  this 
subject  contains  a  number  of  prohibitory  and  mandatory 
clauses,  the  most  important  of  which  are  herein  summarized: 

The  throwing  of  ashes,  garbage,  paper,  dirt,  filth,  or  rubbish  of  any 
kind  whatsoever  in  the  streets  and  sidewalks,  and  the  spilling  of  such 
material  in  the  streets  from  vehicles  are  forbidden.  In  the  morning, 
however,  before  the  first  sweeping  of  the  roadway,  dust  from  the  side- 
walk may  be  swept  into  the  gutter,  if  there  piled,  but  not  otherwise. 

No  person  is  permitted  to  throw  or  distribute  in  the  streets,  public 
places,  or  in  front  yards  or  stoops  any  handbills,  circulars,  cards  or 
advertising  matter. 

Persons  in  charge  of  buildings  abutting  upon  any  street  where  the 
sidewalk  is  paved  are  required  within  four  hours  after  the  cessation  of 
a  snowstorm  to  remove  the  snow  and  ice  from  the  sidewalk  and  gut- 
ter, the  time  between  9  P.  M.  and  7  A.  M.  not  being  included  in  the 
period  of  four  hours. 

Immediately  after  a  snowfall  the  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning 
is  required  to  cause  the  removal  of  snow  and  ice  from  the  crosswalks 
and  culverts. 

Every  street  railroad  is  required  to  remove  snow  and  ice  from  its 
tracks  and  the  spaces  between,  and  carry  away  and  dispose  of  the  same. 
Railroads  are  forbidden  to  throw  snow  and  ice  on  either  side  of  the 
tracks,  and  they  may  only  use  plows  and  sweeping  machines  upon  re- 
ceiving permission  from  the  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning.  Per- 
mission to  use  machines  may  not  be  granted  unless  the  railroad  agrees 
at  its  own  expense  to  remove  the  snow  thrown  up  by  the  machine. 

As  a  sanitary  measure  and  to  make  effective  the  work  of 
the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  the  Sanitary  Code,  pre- 
pared by  the  Board  of  Health,  requires  householders  to  pro- 
vide separate  receptacles  for  ashes  and  garbage,  and  for- 
bids mixing  these  in  the  same  receptacles. *  Rubbish,  con- 
sisting of  pasteboard,  paper,  rags,  mattresses,  carpets,  old 


♦Citizens  frequently  make  the  mistake  of  assuming  that  the  removal 
of  dead  animals  from  the  streets  is  one  of  the  duties  of  the  Department 
of  Street  Cleaning.  This  is  an  error.  The  Sanitary  Code  (section  131) 
forbids  any  person  other  than  the  inspectors  of  the  Department  of 
Health  and  officers  of  the  Police  Department,  or  persons  thereto  au- 
thorized, to  interfere  with  any  dead  animal  in  the  street. 


5 


furniture,  etc.,  must  be  securely  bundled  and  kept  indoors  until 
called  for  by  the  paper  carts,  which  are  to  be  attracted  by  a 
red  "P  &  R"  card  hung-  in  a  conspicuous  place.  It  is  per- 
missible to  put  bottles,  broken  glass,  and  crockery  and  tin 
cans  in  the  ash  receptacles,  but  all  receptacles  shall  be  kept 
within  the  premises  and  not  be  removed  to  the  stoop-line 
until  the  proper  time  for  removal. 

That  section  of  the  Charter  under  which  the  actual  work 
of  Street  Cleaning  is  performed  has  'been  divided  into  two 
classes  and  interpreted  as  follows:  First,  the  cleaning  of  the 
streets  and  the  removal  of  such  dirt  and  rubbish  as  would 
ordinarily  be  gathered  together  by  the  sweepers ;  second,  the 
removal  of  such  substances  as  the  public  health  may  require. 
Under  this  second  division  the  removal  of  garbage  from  pri- 
vate houses,  and  other  matter  injurious  to  the  public  health 
is  performed.  Trade  waste,  boxes,  shavings,  sawdust,  etc., 
are  not  considered  injurious  materials,  and  the  department  is 
under  no  obligation  to  remove  them,  according  to  an  opinion 
delivered  to  Commissioner  Woodbury  by  Corporation  Coun- 
sel Rives,  on  June  25,  1902.  Mr.  Rives  declares  that  the  first 
duty  of  the  department  should  be  the  removal  of  such  sub- 
stances of  animal  or  vegetable  character  as  are  considered 
dangerous  to  the  public  health  by  the  Board  of  Health.  "Your 
next  duty,"  wrote  Mr.  Rives,  "should  be  the  sweeping  and 
cleaning  of  the  streets  themselves  and  the  removal  of  such 
material  as  may  be  collected  in  that  way.  After  that  should 
come  the  removal  of  such  articles  as  are  collected  from 
houses  and  private  property,  which  are  most  offensive  or  un- 
sightly, or  which  the  facilities  at  your  disposal  enable  you  to 
remove.  In  this  last  kind  of  work,  as  well  as  in  the  work 
of  sweeping  and  cleaning  the  streets,  the  matter  is  entirely 
within  your  own  judgment  and  discretion."  It  is  under  this 
interpretation  of  the  Charter  that  the  Department  of  Street 
Cleaning  is  now  conducted. 

The  wide  latitude  allowed  the  commissioner  is  obvious.  In 
utilizing  the  appropriations  of  his  department  he  is  required 
to  perform  the  work  most  necessary  to  preserve  the  public 
health,  but  it  is  not  incumbent  upon  him  to  remove  the  ac- 
cumulations of  trade  waste,  although  he  is  not  forbidden  to  do 
so  if  he  has  the  necessary  funds  at  his  disposal.  His  own 
judgment  in  this  matter  is  supreme,  as  it  is  in  the  matter  of 
employing  machine  sweepers.  While  the  law  declares  that 
the  streets  shall  be  cleaned  and  kept  clean  Tbv  hand  labor, 
machines  may  'be  used  to  supplement  the  work  in  such  streets 
as  may  seem  proper  to  the  commissioner.  Other  discretionary 
powers  of  the  commissioner  relate  to  the  dismissal,  on  speci- 
fied charges,  of  the  members  of  the  uniformed  force,  and  their 
punishment  bv  the  imposition  of  fines.    In  addition  to  these 

6 


the  Charter  gives  the  commissioner  authority  to  perform  cer- 
tain acts,  notably  the  right  to  adopt  and  enforce  rules  for  the 
administration  of  his  department,  the  employees  of  which 
may  be  called  upon  to  work  during  such  hours  and  at  such 
duties  as  the  commissioner  shall  direct.  He  may  also  increase 
the  number  and  members  of  the  uniformed  force,  providing 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  supplies  funds  for 
this  purpose ;  and  hire  extra  carts,  horses  and  men  in  cases  of 
emergency.  The  maximum  number  'of  cartmen  and  sweep- 
ers allowed  by  the  Charter  are,  however,  1,600  and  3,100, 
respectively.  With  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Sinking 
Fund  Commissioners,  the  commissioner  is  authorized  to  lease 
for  periods  not  exceeding  ten  years  suitable  offices  for  the 
transaction  of  the  department's  business,  as  well  as  such  stables 
and  other  buildings  as  may,  from  time  to  time,  be  necessary. 
Finally,  he  has  the  power  to  purchase  supplies ;  to  hire  and 
purchase  new  stock  or  plant;  and  to  make  contracts  for  the 
removal  of  snow,  and  for  final  disposition,  for  periods  not  ex- 
ceeding five  years,  of  street  sweepings,  ashes,  garbage,  and 
rubbish,  such  contracts  to  be  approved  by  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment. 

SUMMARIES. 

Colonel  Waring.  Major  Woodbury. 

In  the  following  summaries  an  effort  has  been  made  to 
compare  the  quantity  of  work  and  its  cost  in  the  Department 
of  Street  Cleaning  under  Commissioner  Waring  with  the 
work  performed  and  its  cost  under  Commissioner  Woodbury. 
The  data  relating  to  Colonel  Waring's  administration  is  com- 
paratively meagre.  The  report  of  the  commissioner  in  1897 
and  his  published  book  on  Street  Cleaning,  together  with  the 
contemporaneous  reports  of  the  Department  of  Health  and 
the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  have  furnished  such  in- 
formation concerning  the  administration  of  the  department  in 
the  years  1896  and  1897  as  are  herein  set  forth.  The  com- 
parison was  embarrassed  from  the  very  start  by  not  only 
the  limited  amount  of  data  obtainable  from  these  sources, 
hut  also  because  of  the  different  bases  on  which  the  reports 
for  the  years  1896-1897  and  1902-1905  are  framed.  This  ex- 
perience again  emphasizes  the  need  of  immediate  reform  in 
the  method  of  framing  departmental  reports.  It  strongly  in- 
dicates the  necessity  of  adopting  some  system  of  accounting 
and  reporting,  which  will  facilitate,  or  even  make  possible, 
an  illuminating  comparison  of  the  operations  of  a  depart- 
ment in  different  years  and  under  different  administrations. 
Such  comparisons  are  highly  instructive,  and  a  reform  which 
would  make  these  comparisons  possible  would  be  of  the 
greatest  public  benefit. 


7 


Colonel  Waring. 


Year.     Population.   Cost  of  Street  Cleaning.    Cost  per  capita. 

1896  1,934,077  $2,970,700.00  $1,535 

1897  1,990,881  2,949,002.40  1. 48 1 

Average  per  capita  cost  for  the  two  years,  $1,508. 

Major  Woodbury. 

Year.  Population.  Cost  of  Street  Cleaning.  Cost  per  capita. 

1902  3465,998  $5,144,822.36  $1484 

!9Q3  3.53^366  5,3i7,50i-85  1505 

1904  3,640,234  5,441,917.66  1.494 

1905  3v52,734  5,662,215.38  1.508 

Average  per  capita  cost  for  the  four  years,  $1,497. 

In  each  instance  the  cost  of  street  cleaning  includes  gar- 
bage and  ash  collection,  and  final  disposition,  rents  and  sup- 
plies, but  excludes  cost  of  snow  removal  and  increases  in 
stock  and  plant. 

In  1897,  $1,361,129  was  spent  on  street  sweeping  alone.  The 
total  mileage  of  paved  streets  (not  including  macadam)  in 
Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  (old  City  of  New  York)  was  426.32, 
the  amount  allowed  for  each  mile  being  $3,192.74. 

In  1905  there  were  an  average  of  1018  miles  of  paved  streets 
(not  including  macadam)  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Street  Cleaning  within  the  Boroughs  of  Manhattan, 
the  Bronx  and  Brooklyn.  The  expenditure  for  sweeping  alone 
was  $2,137,961.94  or  $2,100.15  per  mile. 

In  1897  there  were  1614  sweepers  available  for  426.32  miles 
of  paved  streets  in  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  (old  City  of 
New  York),  making  the  distance  to  be  covered  by  each  sweep- 
er .264  miles. 

In  1905  there  were  2434  sweepers  available  for  an  average 
of  1018  miles  of  paved  streets  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan, 
the  Bronx  and  Brooklyn,  making  the  distance  to  be  covered 
by  each  sweeper  .418  miles.  Six  hundred  and  sixty-five  of  the 
total  number  of  sweepers  were  on  December  31,  1905,  assigned 
to  the  534.19  miles  of  paved  streets  in  Brooklyn,  making  a 
distance  to  be  covered  by  each  sweeper  of  .80  miles. 

The  remaining  1769  sweepers  were  available  on  the  same 
date  for  cleaning  the  487.24  miles  of  paved  streets  in  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx,  making  the  distance  to  be  covered  by 
each  sweeper  .275  miles. 

In  1897  (the  first  year  of  the  separate  collection  of  gar- 
bage) the  D.  S.  C.  collected  164,422  cartloads  of  garbage. 

8 


The  population  on  July  3,  1897,  was  estimated  by  the  Board 
of  Health  at  1,990,881.  The  collection  per  capita  of  popula- 
tion was,  therefore,  .082  cartloads. 

In  1905  the  D.  S.  C.  collected  333,180  cartloads  of  garbage, 
or  .088  cartloads  per  capita  of  population. 

In  1897,  19<3&3  cartloads  of  garbage  were  collected  by  per- 
mit (private)  carts,  or  .105  of  the  total  collection. 

In  1905,  17,890  cartloads  of  garbage  were  collected  by  per- 
mit carts,  or  .05  of  the  total  collection. 

(The  garbage  collected  by  permit  carts  is  of  the  richest 
variety,  i.  e.,  that  secured  from  hotels,  restaurants,  private 
establishments,  etc.  Its  collection  by  the  D.  S.  C.  is  a  benefit 
to  the  city,  inasmuch  as  the  quality  of  the  garbage  affects  the 
product  in  utilization  and  the  value  of  that  product  governs, 
in  part,  the  cost  of  the  final  disposition.) 

Colonel  Waring  states  that  about  800,000  cartloads  of  do- 
mestic ashes  were  collected  in  the  year  1897.  On  this  basis 
the  ashes  collected  per  capita  of  population  was  .4  cartloads. 

(Under  the  present  system  of  collection,  ashes  and  street 
sweepings  are  mixed.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  to  deter- 
mine the  ash  collection  per  capita  of  population.) 

In  1900  (Percy  Xagle,  Commissioner),  the  total  collection 
of  ashes,  street  sweepings,  garbage  and  refuse  was  2,531,160 
cartloads,  of  which  473,009  cartloads  were  collected  by  permit 
carts.  In  other  words,  .186  of  all  material  collected  was  by 
permit  carts. 

Similarly,  in  1905,  the  total  collection  of  ashes,  street 
sweepings,  garbage  and  rubbish  was  2,916,110,  of  which  560,- 
340  cartloads  were  collected  by  permit  carts.  In  other  words, 
.192  of  the  total  collection  was  made  by  permit  carts. 

A  comparison  of  the  cost  of  carting  under  Colonel  Waring 
and  now  is  vitiated  because  of  the  different  significance  of 
this  term  in  the  two  administrations.  Under  Colonel  Waring 
"wages,  rentals,  administration,  etc.,"  (Report  1897)  were 
charged  under  this  heading.  Under  the  present  administra- 
tion the  carting  account  covers  "salaries  of  drivers,  hostlers, 
mechanics,  mechanics'  helpers,  automobile  enginemen,"  also 
the  feeding  and  shoeing  of  most  of  the  department  horses 
(Budget,  1906),  but  not  rentals,  purchases  and  administra- 
tion as  in  Commissioner  Waring's  time.  On  this  basis  the 
carting  accounts  were  in  the  four  years  as  follows : 


Waring 


Woodbury 


1896 
$903,000 


1897 
$897,833 


$1,648,491 


1902 


1905 
$1,747,686 


75.7  cents  74.1  cents 

per  cartload       per  cartload 

(Report  1906)  (Report  1906) 


9 


Col.  Waring  states  in  his  report  for  1897  that  the  cost  of 
collecting  ashes  alone  was  80  cents  per  cartload. 


Mileage  of  paved  streets,  exclusive  of  macadam,  old  City  of 
New  York,  south  of  Harlem  River,  1897: 


Specification  granite    1 59.47 

Square  granite   

Specification  trap    43-84 

Belgian  trap    34.45 

Cobble    .10 

Sheet  asphalt    I23-I9 

Block  asphalt    5.68 

Karri  wood    .08 


380.02 

Mileage  of  paved  streets,  exclusive  of  macadam,  Borough  of 


Manhattan,  1905 : 

Oblong  granite    104.82 

Square  granite    4.90 

Oblong  trap    27-37 

Belgian  trap    3.14 

Sheet  asphalt    235-95 

Block  asphalt    22-47 

Cobble    .79 

AYood  block    1.51 


400.95 

FIXAL  DISPOSITION. 

In  1896,  2,592,000  cubic  yards  of  material  were  disposed  of 
by  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  most  of  it  at  sea.  The 
total  cost  of  this  disposition  was  $377,900,  the  cost  per  cubic 
yard  being  $0.14. 

In  1902,  5,301,930  cubic  yards  of  material  were  disposed  of 
by  the  department.  The  total  cost  of  the  disposition  was 
$938,633.41,  or  $0,177  per  cubic  yard. 

In  1905,  6,114,540  cubic  yards  of  material  were  disposed  of 
at  a  total  cost  of  $1,179,765  or  $0,192  per  cubic  yard. 

The  figures  for  the  cost  of  final  disposition  in  1897  are  not 
contained  in  Colonel  Waring's  report.  In  that  year  separation 
of  garbage  from  ashes  and  rubbish  was  begun.  In  1896,  the 
year  for  which  the  figures  are  given,  and  before,  all  collections 
were  mixed  and  dumped  into  the  sea.  Under  the  present  sys- 
tem garbage  is  taken  by  a  contractor  to  Barren  Island  for 
utilization.  Ashes  are  used  for  land-fill  at  Riker's  Island  and 
elsewhere,  and  an  increasing  quantity  of  rubbish  is  burned  in 
incinerators  which  develop  power  for  lighting  purposes. 


10 


The  cost  of  final  disposition  is  less  than  the  figures  given,  owing 
to  the  income  derived  from  the  privilege  of  "trimming"  the 
dumps,  scows  and  incinerators,  i.  e.,  the  selection  therefrom  of 
saleable  material.  This  income,  however,  is  not  credited  to  the 
Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  but  to  the  Sinking  Fund.  A 
part  of  this  income  is  in  the  form  of  labor  performed  at  the 
Delancey  Street  incinerator  by  employees  of  the  trimming 
contractor. 

THE  HOUSE  TO  HOUSE  INQUIRY  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF 

CITY  BETTERMENT. 

During  the  week  beginning  March  n,  1906,  the  Bureau  of  City 
Betterment  conducted  a  house  to  house  inquiry  regarding  the  ser- 
vice rendered  by  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning.  The  fol- 
lowing questions  were  asked  at  414  different  'buildings  occu- 
pied by  2,957  tenants  or  owners : 

1.  Is  your  garbage  collected  by  the  D.  S.  C.  or  by  a  private 
cartman? 

2.  Are  your  ashes  collected  by  the  D.  S.  C.  or  by  a  private 
cartman? 

3.  If  by  the  D.  S.  C.  at  what  hour  is  your  garbage  usually 
collected? 

4.  If  by  the  D.  S.  C.  at  what  hour  are  your  ashes  usually 
collected? 

5.  Are  you  required  to  fee  the  city  ash  and  garbage  or  paper 
collectors  in  order  to  have  your  work  satisfactorily  and  regu- 
larly performed  ? 

6.  Criticism  of  the  character  of  the  service  rendered  bv 
the  D.  S.  C. 

7.  Criticism  of  the  cleaning  of  your  street. 

These  questions  were  asked  of  persons  living  or  doing  busi- 
ness in  different  sections  of  the  city  as  follows : 

MANHATTAN. 

1.  Residence  'block,  all  private  houses.  Centrally  located 
(both  sides  of  street). 

2.  Two  (2)  blocks,  business  section,  lowrer  Manhattan, 
west  of  Broadway  (both  sides  of  street). 

3.  Tenement  blocks  as  follows : 
East  Side. 

Grand  Street:  Chrystie  Street  to  Eldridge  Street.  Two 
(2)  blocks  (both  sides  of  street). 

i:i 


Allen  Street :  Delancey  Street  to  Rivington  Street.  One 
block  (both  sides  of  street). 

Essex  Street :  Stanton  Street  to  East  Houston  Street. 
One  block  (both  sides  of  street). 

East  Broadway:  Montgomery  Street  to  Gouverneur 
Street.    One  block  (both  sides  of  street). 

East  106th  Street:  First  Avenue  to  Second  Avenue.  One 
block  (both  sides). 

West  Side. 

West  66th  Street:  Central  Park  West   to  Columbus 
Avenue.    One  block  (both  sides). 

West  68th  Street:  Amsterdam    Avenue    to  Eleventh 
Avenue.    One  block  (north  side). 

West  69th  Street :  Six  tenements. 

West  62d  Street:  Two  tenements. 

BROOKLYN. 

32  tenement  buildings. 
20  business  buildings. 
73  residences. 

Of  the  414  buildings,  garbage 'is  collected  at  305.  Of  this  305 
12  per  cent,  is  by  private  cartmen. 

Ashes  are  collected  at  387  of  all  buildings  ;  12  per  cent,  of 
that  number  by  private  cartmen. 

Paper  and  rubbish  is  collected  at  all  414  buildings,  29  per 
cent,  being  by  private  cartmen  and  push-cart  men. 

In  Manhattan,  of  192  tenement  buildings,  garbage  is  col- 
lected at  160  by  the  city  and  at  2  by  private  cartmen.  At  30 
the  garbage  is  either  burned  or  of  such  small  quantity  that  it 
is  mixed  with  ashes. 

Ashes  are  collected  by  the  city  at  187,  by  private  at  4. 

Paper  and  rubbish  are  collected  by  the  city  at  163  and  by 
private  at  11. 

In  the  case  of  45  of  the  192  tenements,  garbage  and  ashes 
are  collected  in  the  afternoon,  all  others  reporting  collections 
from  7- 1 1  A.  M. 

At  19  tenements  the  collections  were  reported  unsatisfac- 
tory. 

At  6  "tips"  were  said  to  be  required. 

46  per  cent,  of  all  buildings  at  which  inquiries  were  made 
were  Manhattan  tenements. 

12 


DEPARTMENT    OF    STREET  CLEANING 


MANHATTAN 

POPULATION 

GARBAGE 

ASHES 

PAPER  AND  RUBBISH 

C'OLLECl 

Fees  or 

Bldgs. 

Ten- 

Resi- 

City 

vate    Private  Hours 

Pri- 

Private 

Hotels,  17 

1 

L6     92.8  5-7  A.M. 

5 

12 

69.6 

5-7  A.M. 

4    13  75.4 

5-8  A.M.I 

17 

Theatres,  ]  5 

15 

1     100.     5-7  A.M. 

13 

86.6 

5-7  A.M. 

4    14  77.7 

5-8  A.M. 

15 

E.  65th,  Madison  to  Fifth 

R 

21 

21 

105 
10 

5 

16     76.  A.M. 

16 

76. 

A.M. 

5    16  76. 

Irregular 

2 

40. 

Worth,  Broadway  to  Church 

B 

19 

2 

US 

NONE 

3 

Night 

b{%  P5(T  

Night 

IS   

Barc  lay.  W.  Broadway  to  Church 

B 

25 

4 

20 

1 

  Night 

15 

2 

11.7 

Night 

8    17  68. 

Night 

'' 

One  block,  both  .ides 

W.  66th,  Central  Park  west  to  Columbus 

T 

•28 

245 

1225 

23 

2       8.    8-9  A.M. 

3 

10.7 

7-8  A.M. 

2*     2  7.6 

24  1 

4. 

Grand,  Chrystie  to  Eldridge 

T 

31 

88 

440 

21 

  8-9  A.M. 

30 

' 

3.2 

8-9  A.M. 

bisli  Paper 

22    9  29. 

Irregular 

25 

19.3 

Allen,  Delancey  to  Rivington 

T 

24 

374 

1S70 

19 

  9-10  A.M. 

23 

9-10  A.M. 

19      with  garbage 
ami  ashes 

Irregular 

18  5 

21.7 

Essex,  Stanton  to  E.  Houston 

T 

25 

310 

1550 

24 

  3  P.M. 

£0 

3  P.M. 

25   

Irregular 

18  7 

28. 

E.Broadway,  Montgomery  to  Gouverneur 

T 

20 

111 

555 

20 

  A.M. 

20 

P.M. 

20   

Irregular 

20   

E.  106th,  First  to  Second 

T 

42 

661 

3305 

41 

 I     8-9  A.M. 

42 

9-10  A.M. 

11   

Irregular 

42 

W.  68th,  Amsterdam  to  Eleventh 

T 

352 

1700 

12 

  7  9  A.M. 

17 

9-11  A.M. 

s  

Irregular 

17 

W.  69th,  214-220,  even  only 

T 

4 

174 

870 

.4 

  7-9  A.M. 

4 

9-11  A.M. 

4   

Irregular 

4 

W.  62nd,  213-215,  odd  only 

T 

1 

4s 

240 

BURNED 

1 

BURNED 

1 

BROOKLYN 

N.  8th,  Havemeyer  to  Bedford 

T 

104 

970 

24 

  8  A.M. 

30 

8  A.M. 

30   

Irregular 

30 

Fu.to„,  saa-is 

B 

20 

20 

25 

4 

2      33.    8-9  A.M. 

19 

1 

5. 

8-9  A.M. 

17     3  15. 

6-9  A.M. 

19  , 

S. 

One  block,  both  side! 

Pierrepont,  Columbia  Heights  to  Hicks 

R 

28 

46 

270 

24 

  A.M. 

28 

28   

Two  blocks,  bolu  sides 

Hancock,  Franklin  to  Nostrand 

R 

4.". 

66 

330 

45 

  '  10  A.M. 

45 

47.   

Irregular 

45 

Totals. 

414  2701 

256 

13545 

268 

37  12.1 

339 

48 

12.4 

322   92  22.2 

361  22 

5.7 

7 

R.— Residential  District.  B.— Business  District.  T—  Tenement  District. 


86  per  cent,  of  all  complaints  regarding  collection  were  re- 
ceived from  'tenants  in  these  tenements. 

383  answers  were  received  to  the  inquiry  concerning  criti- 
cism of  the  collecting  service.  Of  this  number,  22,  or  5  per 
cent.,  stated  that  the  service  was  unsatisfactory. 

In  reply  to  the  inquiry  whether  "tips"  were  requested  or  re- 
quired, 7  persons  stated  that  good  service  could  not  'be  secured 
without  feeing  the  cartmen. 

The  D.  S.  C.  collects  garbage  at  1  of  the  17  hotels  (all  Man- 
hattan) at  which  inquiry  was  made,  16  having  an  arrangement 
for  its  removal  with  private  cartmen.  Ashes  are  collected  by 
the  department  at  5  of  the  hotels,  and  rubbish  at  4.  No  com- 
plaints of  the  D.  S.  C.  were  received  at  any  of  the  hotels. 

At  2  of  the  15  theatres  investigated,  ashes  were  collected  by 
the  D.  S.  C. ;  paper  and  rubbish  at  4.  At  none  of  the  theatres 
was  complaint  made. 

In  Brooklyn,  of  the  32  tenement  buildings  visited,  all  ashes 
and  garbage  was  found  to  be  collected  by  the  D.  S.  C,  usually 
before  nine  in  the  morning.    There  were  no  complaints. 

One  of  the  20  business  establishments  visited  found  the  col- 
lection of  ashes  by  the  D.  S.  C.  unsatisfactory  and  now  em- 
ploys a  private  cartman ;  19  have  their  ashes  removed  by  the. 
D.  S.  C.  and  are  satisfied. 

Of  the  73  residences  visited,  it  was  found  that  the  D.  S.  C. 
collects  garbage  at  69,  the  other  4  burning  it  on  the  premises. 
The  garbage  collection  was  reported  regular  and  before  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  each  day.  The  D.  S.  C.  collects  ashes 
and  rubbish  at  all  of  these  houses.  The  collection  of  ashes,  it 
was  reported,  is  made  from  these  houses  on  alternate  days. 
No  complaints. 

(Commissioner  Woodbury  states  that  Brooklyn  is  now  re- 
ceiving a  daily  collection.    Report  1906.) 

While  the  data  secured  concerning  the  collection  of  gar- 
bage and  ashes  may  fairly  be  taken  to  indicate  the  character 
of  the  service  now  rendered  by  the  D.  S.  C.  in  this  respect,  it 
does  not  seem  wise  to  base  any  conclusions  on  the  reported 
expressions  of  opinion  concerning  the  cleaning  of  streets  cov- 
ered by  this  inquiry.  The  following  is,  however,  a  summary 
of  the  replies  received  to  the  question  concerning  the  work  of 
street  cleaning.  Each  person  was  requested  to  express  an 
opinion  only  on  the  character  of  the  work  performed  in  the 
street  upon  which  he  lived  or  carried  on  his  business. 

Four  hundred  and  fourteen  answers  were  received  to  the  in- 
quiry concerning  the  cleaning  of  the  streets.  394,  or  94  per 
cent.,  stated  that  the  streets  were  satisfactorily  cleaned. 


13 


30  per  cent,  of  the  buildings  visited  are  located  in  Brooklyn. 
50  per  cent,  of  the  complaints  on  street  cleaning  were,  how- 
ever, received  from  that  borough. 

A  canvass  of  the  members  of  the  Citizens  Union  respecting 
the  cleaning  of  the  streets  has  indicated  a  strong  opinion  that 
this  work  is  being  unsatisfactorily  performed. 

THE  BROOKLYN  ASH  CONTRACT. 

The  contract  for  the  final  disposition  of  street  sweepings,  ashes, 
and  rubbish  in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  over  the  alleged  non- 
enforcement  of  which  a  controversy  has  arisen,  was  executed  on 
October  28,  1902,  H.  Milton  Kennedy  being  the  successful  bid- 
der. The  city  agreed  to  deliver  to  the  contractor,  at  designated 
places,  all  the  street  sweepings,  ashes,  and  rubbish  that  were  col- 
lected by  the  carts  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  or  other 
carts,  so  far  as  such  other  carts  could  be  controlled  by  the  de- 
partment. Mr.  Kennedy,  in  turn,  agreed  to  comply  with  all  the 
laws  relating  to  dumping  and  final  disposition  of  refuse,  and  to 
perform  the  work  in  conformity  to  the  specifications  of  the  con- 
tract. He  also  bound  himself  to  conform  to  certain  specifications 
and  plans  which  he  submitted  with  his  proposal,  and  which  were 
attached  to  and  made  a  part  of  the  contract.  According  to  the 
agreement,  which  covers  a  period  of  five  years,  the  contractor  is 
to  dispose  of  the  material  delivered  at  the  receiving  stations  "in 
such  manner  only  as  will  render  it  unobjectionable  in  any  and 
every  respect,  for  the  sum  of  35  cents  per  cubic  yard." 

Mr.  Kennedy's  proposal  contemplated  the  building  of  receiving 
stations  at  centrally  located  points  on  street  railway  lines,  each 
station  to  contain  hoppers  of  sufficient  capacity  to  hold  the  entire 
refuse  of  any  given  station  for  twenty-four  hours.  The  material 
was  to  be  removed  nightly  by  cars  and  taken  to  the  lowlands  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  borough.  Mr.  Kennedy  agreed  to  construct 
the  stations  of  stone  and  iron,  with  sanitary  and  adequate  facilities 
for  handling  the  materials  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning 
promptly  and  without  nuisance.  According  to  his  proposals,  the 
stations  were  to  be  clean  and  of  such  architectural  appearance  as 
not  to  be  objectionable  to  any  neighborhood,  a  blue  print  showing 
the  type  of  building  being  submitted  by  the  bidder. 

In  order  to  avoid  misunderstanding.  Commissioner}-  Woodbury 
asked  Corporation  Counsel  George  L.  Rives  for  an  opinion  as 
to  the  provisions  of  Mr.  Kennedy's  bid.  On  October  21,  1902, 
three  days  prior  to  the  approval  of  the  contract  by  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment,  Mr.  Rives  made  this  reply: 

"It  is  my  opinion  that  the  description  and  reference  to  said  blue 
prints  attached  embodies  and  makes  said  instruments  a  part  of  the 
contract,  to  and  in  their  construction  and  interpretation,  and  that  the 
bidder  may  be  required  to  build  the  receiving  stations  in  accordance 

U 


with  the  specifications  which  he  has  submitted,  and  practically  after 
the  plan  submitted,  and  that  he  may  be  required  to  do  the  hauling  at 
night." 

Mr.  Kennedy  was  to  begin  the  work  within  nine  months  from 
the  date  of  execution  of  the  contract,  but  on  July  29,  1903.  he 
received  an  extension  of  five  months  and  on  September  4,  finding 
himself  unable  to  carry  out  his  agreement,  he  assigned  the  con- 
tract to  the  American  Railway  Traffic  Company,  which  is  con- 
trolled by  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company.  In  accepting 
the  contract  the  American  Railway  Traffic  Company  succeeded 
in  getting  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  to  agree  to 
several  modifications,  which  were  principally  designed  to  change 
the  method  of  handling  the  refuse  within  the  receiving  stations. 
Those  clauses  of  the  contract  which  bind  the  contractor  to  build 
the  stations  of  stone  and  iron  and  to  do  the  hauling  by  night 
were  not,  however,  modified  in  any  respect. 

The  thirteen  stations  erected  by  the  American  Railway  Traffic 
Company  bear  little  or  no  resemblance  to  the  type  of  building 
proposed  by  Mr.  Kennedy.  Their  architectural  appearance  is 
anything  but  pleasing,  for  in  the  majority  of  instances  they  are 
merely  rude  sheds,  with  corrugated  iron  sides  and  roofs  held  in 
position  by  wooden  uprights  and  beams.  The  only  expensive 
feature  is  an  electric  traveling  crane  for  lifting  the  cans  of  refuse 
to  and  from  the  flat  cars.  Residents  of  Brooklyn  who  live  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  buildings  object  to  them  on  several  grounds.  In 
the  first  place,  because  of  the  loose  construction  of  the  buildings 
and  the  fact  that  one  end — the  dumping  end — is  not  enclosed  or 
screened,  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  odors  and  clouds  of  dust  es- 
caping to  the  streets.  Again,  the  process  of  "trimming  the 
dumps"  is  carried  on  daily  at  each  station,  which  actually  means 
that  the  rubbish  hauled  to  the  building  is  again  carted  away  after 
the  tin  cans  and  bottles  have  been  saved  and  the  paper  baled. 
This  is  true  even  of  the  two  stations  which  have  incinerating 
plants,  for  only  a  small  percentage  of  the  rubbish  is  consumed. 
Trimming  the  dumps  can  scarcely  be  made  a  clean  performance, 
but  the  question  whether  this  process  at  thirteen  widely  scattered 
points  in  Brooklyn  is  a  menace  to  the  public  health  can  best  be 
answered  by  the  sanitary  authorities.  It  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  the  contractor  could  be  compelled  to  trim  the  dumps  at 
the  point  of  final  disposition,  although  the  contract  stated  that 
the  material  shall  be  handled  in  such  manner  only  as  will  render 
it  unobjectionable  in  every  respect. 

The  hauling  through  the  streets  by  day  of  the  materials  sent 
from  the  receiving  stations  to  the  lowlands  for  filling  in  purposes 
is  another  source  of  annoyance  to  the  Brooklynites.  and  the  opinion 
is  widely  expressed  that  the  American  Railway  Traffic  Company 
should  be  compelled  to  live  up  to  the  terms  of  its  contract  in  this 
respect,  and  to  do  the  hauling  by  night.    Under  existing  condi- 

15 


tions  a  certain  percentage  of  ashes  and  street  sweepings  is  spilled 
in  the  streets  while  the  cars  are  in  transit,  for  the  canvas  tarpaul- 
ins covering  the  cans  of  material  do  not  'wholly  prevent  leakage. 
The  substances  that  escape  are  frequently  scattered  far  and  wide 
by  a  high  wind  to  the  serious  discomfort  of  pedestrians,  as  well 
as  householders  who  may  happen  to  have  their  windows  open. 

It  has  been  publicly  stated  by  President  Wrmfcer  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  that  the  American  Railway  Traffic  Com- 
pany found  the  details  of  the  Kennedy  proposal  impracticable  and 
that  the  existing  receiving  stations  were  built  with  the  approval 
of  the  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning.  The  commissioner  also 
modified  the  contract  so  as  to  permit  the  material  to  be  handled 
during  the  day  instead  of  at  night.  Commissioner  Woodbury 
asserts  that  about  6,000  cubic  yards  of  material  are  delivered 
to  the  receiving  stations  daily,  and  that  it  is  impossible  to  trans- 
port this  quantity  over  the  rails  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
Company  during  the  hours  of  darkness.  He  bases  bis  authority 
to  modify  and  alter  the  methods  of  the  work  on  Clause  F  of  the 
contract,  which  reads  as  follows : 

"That  the  contractor  will  at  all  times  use  such  appliances,  processes, 
devices  or  methods,  and  employ  such  and  so  many  men  for  the  per- 
formance of  all  operations  connected  with  the  work  under  this  contract 
as  will  secure  a  satisfactory  rate  of  progress  and  quality  of  work,  and 
if  at  any  time  during  the  progress  of  the  work  such  appliances, 
processes,  devices  or  methods,  or  such  force  or  persons  emplo3'ed  by 
the  contractor  appear  to  the  commissioner  to  be  inefficient,  insufficient, 
or  inappropriate  for  securing  the  quality  of  the  work  required  for  the 
necessary  rate  of  progress,  the  commissioner  shall  have  the  power  to 
direct  the  contractor  to  increase  the  efficiency  or  improve  the  character 
of  the  appliances,  processes,  devices  or  methods,  or  to  increase  the 
number  of  persons  employed  by  him,  and  the  contractor  shall  there- 
upon conform  to  such  direction  until  or  unless  the  same  shall  be  modi- 
fied or  revoked  by  the  commissioner  or  by  the  board  of  estimate  and 
apportionment,  but  the  failure  of  the  commissioner  to  demand  such 
increase,  or  efficiency,  or  improvement  shall  in  no  manner  be  deemed 
to  relieve  the  contractor  from  his  obligation  to  secure  the  quality  of 
work  and  rate  of  progress  established  by  any  of  the  terms  or  conditions 
of  this  contract  and  in  case  it  shall  at  any  time  appear  that  the  work 
or  any  part  thereof  shall  in  any  manner  be  unfaithful  or  imperfect,  the 
same  shall  be  immediately  corrected  on  the  demand  of  the  commis- 
sioner, and  no  failure  on  the  part  of  any  inspector  or  other  officer  or 
employee  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  to  call  attention  to 
such  defect  shall  be  held  to  be  a  waiver  of  the  commissioner's  right 
to  direct  the  same  to  be  corrected  as  aforesaid  or  to  stop  the  commis- 
sioner therefrom." 

It  is  possible  that  Clause  F  can  be  interpreted  as  permitting  the 
commissioner  to  waive  the  enforcement  of  the  proposal  to  build 
a  certain  type  of  station,  but  it  obviously  does  not  give  him  dis- 
cretionary power  to  waive  the  obligation  of  the  removal  of  ashes 
at  night.  The  reading  of  the  Clause  would  indicate  that  the  com- 
missioner could  only  alter  the  terms  of  the  contract  as  to  method, 
if  such  alteration  resulted  in  an  improvement  of  service  rendered 

16 


or  greater  satisfaction  not  only  to  the  commissioner  but  to  the 
community.  The  question,  therefore,  resolves  itself  into  this: 
Is  the  work  more  satisfactorily  performed  and  is  the  com- 
munity receiving  service  of  greater  efficiency  from  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Traffic  Company  by  waiving  its  obligation  to 
remove  ashes  at  night  and  permitting  their  removal  at  the 
convenience  of  the  company? 

It  is,  however,  proper  to  question  the  wisdom  of  the  commis- 
sioner's use  of  his  alleged  discretionary  power  in  this  instance, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  his  decision  'has  probably  redounded 
to  the  financial  advantage  of  the  contractor,  with' no  compen- 
sating return  to  the  city. 

SNOW  REMOVAL. 

In  1896  the  city  entered  into  a  contract  for  the  removal  of 
snow.  The  payments  were  made  by  the  cubic  yard  removed, 
and  the  rate  for  the  first  year  was  56  cents.  "Because  of  the 
letting  of  the  contract  in  cubic  yards,"  wrote  H.  S.  Stidham,  in 
Colonel  YVaring's  book.  "Street  Cleaning,"  "it  was  necessary  to 
arrange  for  inspectors  at  the  loading  and  dumping  places',  to 
tally  the  loads  and  to  protect  the  city's  interests."  Mr.  Stidham 
goes  on  to  report  that  the  system  was  a  vast  improvement  over 
the  former  method  of  doing  the  work  with  the  department  forces 
and  temporarily  hired  laborers,  both  in  the  matter  of  expedi- 
tion and  cost.  The  contract  arrangement  also  released  the  regu- 
lar force  of  the  department  for  the  performance  of  their  routine 
duties.  "At  each  loading  place,"  continues  Air.  Stidham,  "is  a 
department  foreman,  who.  after  a  cart  has  been  loaded  from 
the  street  in  which  the  work  is  being  conducted,  and  if  the  load 
is  satisfactory  in  size,  gives  the  driver  a  coupon  signifying  that 
the  snow  has  been  taken  under  department  supervision.  At  the 
piers  used  as  dumping-points  the  loaded  carts  move  out  to  the 
extreme  end  along  one  side ;  the  drivers  dump  their  snow  over 
the  string-pieces  into  the  river,  and  submit  to  the  inspection  of 
department  subordinates,  who  see  that  the  carts  are  entirely 
emptied,  and  that  no  snow  is  dumped  on  the  pier,  and  that  no 
false  loads  are  allowed  for.  The  empty  carts  return  down  the 
pier  in  single  file  on  the  opposite  side,  passing  a  department 
foreman  at  the  extreme  end,  who  receives  from  the  driver  his 
loading  coupon,  and  hands  to  a  representative  of  the  contractor, 
standing  by  his  side,  an  equivalent  brass  check,  properly  stamped 
and  numbered,  as  a  tally  of  the  city's  indebtedness.  The  driver 
then  receives  a  voucher  from  the  contractor's  representatives, 
showing  that  a  load  of  snow  has  been  regularly  hauled  and 
dumped,  and  that  pay  for  the  same  will  be  given  upon  presenta- 
tion of  the  voucher  at  the  contractor's  main  offices.  This  is 
negotiable,  as  is  also  the  similar  voucher  for  hours  of  labor  per- 


17 


formed  which  is  banded  to  each  shoveler  at  the  close  of  his  day's 
work;  and  both  are  honored  to  the  bearer  upon  demand,  at  any 
time  afterward. 

"The  number  of  brass  checks  turned  in  each  day  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  contractor  is  credited  to  his  account  by  the 
snow  inspector,  and  constitutes  the  basis  of  the  bills  presented 
by  him  for  cubic  yards  removed. 

"After  the  first  storm  of  the  winter,  for  which  the  depart- 
ment and  the  contractor  were  both  unprepared,  the  system  of 
inspection  was  practically  perfect.  The  loading  and  dump  fore- 
men were  exceedingly  strict,  and  the  loads  hauled  were  larger 
than  ever  before.  The  reports  of  the  various  inspectors  and 
detectives  were  most  encouraging,  and  not  a  suspicion  of  dis- 
honesty attached  itself  to  any  of  the  transactions  incident  to  the 
loading  and  dumping.  The  controller's  representative  was  given 
ever  facility  in  his  inspections  in  all  the  districts,  and  expressed 
the  highest  appreciation  of  the  manner  in  which  the  city's  in- 
terests were  being  guarded." 

The  report  of  Commissioner  Xagle  for  1900  makes  no  allu- 
sion to  the  question  of  snow  removal,  beyond  reporting  the  ex- 
penditure of  $327,916.62  for  this  purpose. 

In  his  report  (1906)  Commissioner  Woodbury  says: 

"In  the  winter  of  1901  and  1902  the  snow  removed  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Street  Cleaning  amounted  to  1,653,126  cubic  yards.  This  was 
done  at  a  contract  price  per  cubic  yard  of  36^  cents,  and  hauled  to  the 
waterfront,  the  contractor  being  allowed  a  ticket  or  a  certain  number 
of  tickets  per  load,  depending  upon  its  size,  which  were  checked  at  the 
point  of  loading  and  again  punched  or  marked  at  the  dumping  place. 
This  method  employed  all  the  officers  and  about  one  thousand  of  the 
men  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  who  acted  as  loading  and 
dump  foremen,  inspectors  and  superintendents  for  the  contractor. 
This  frequently  brought  the  other  work  of  the  department,  particu- 
larly carting  and  collecting,  nearly  to  a  standstill,  but  there  was  no 
other  way  of  finally  checking  up  the  accounts. 

-  "In  the  fall  of  1902  the  present  method  of  contract  for  the  removal 
of  snow  was  devised,  which  is  practically  the  letting  of  the  cleaning  of 
a  given  area  by  the  contractor,  the  cubic  yardage  to  be  determined  by 
the  depth  of  snow  as  reported  by  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau. 
This  practically  releases  all  but  very  few  of  the  officers  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Street  Cleaning  from  supervision  of  the  contractor  and  per- 
mits them  to  continue  their  regular  work,  while  at  the  same  time  the 
areas  are  not  paid  for  unless  turned  in  as  cleaned  by  the  district  super- 
intendents, inspected  by  the  superintendent  in  charge  of  snow  removal 
and  the  officers  of  the  Department  of  Finance.  By  this  method  in  the 
winter  of  1904  and  1905  the  snowfall  of  59.2  inches  was  cleared  from 
907.5  miles  of  streets  in  the  Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  at 
an  average  cost  of  20.43  cents  per  cubic  yard.  This  year  the  contract 
price  for  the  Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  has  dropped  to  an 
average  of  14  cents  per  cubic  yard.'' 

In  answer  to  an  inquiry  addressed  to  him  by  the  Bureau  of 
City  Betterment,  the  Commissioner  wrote : 

iS 


"The  change  in  contract  for  snow  removal  was  caused,  first,  for  the 
reason  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  uniformed  force  of  the  Depart- 
ment was  engaged  on  snow  removal  while  the  former  method  was 
pursued,  which  militated  very  materially  against  the  regular  routine 
work  of  the  Department,  and  to  a  large  extent  took  the  sweepers 
away  from  the  necessary  work  of  cleaning  the  crossings,  keeping  the 
gutters  open,  etc.  The  present  method,  based  on  the  actual  snowfall, 
totally  overcomes  the  chance  of  fraud,  or  loss  to  the  city  by  fraud;  it 
releases  the  members  of  the  uniformed  force  formerly  engaged  in 
snow  removal,  so  that  they  may  be  occupied  at  their  regular  work. 
Finally,  the  present  system  was  adopted  after  consultation  with  Pro- 
fessors Jacobus  and  Hallock  of  Columbia  University,  and  Mr.  Emery, 
Chief  of  the  Weather  Bureau,  for  the  reason  that  in  consequence  of 
that  consultation  it  was  determined  by  me  that  the  city  would  be  best 
served  in  the  matter  of  snow  removal,  taking  all  the  factors  connected 
therewith  into  consideration,  by  the  adoption  of  the  system  now  in 
vogue,  and  also  for  the  reasons  given  above."' 

The  contract  for  snow  removal  is  made  from  year  to  year. 
Bids  are  requested  for'  the  removal  of  snow  from  each  of  the 
districts  into  which  the  city  is  divided  for  D.  S.  C.  purposes. 
The  compensation  is  fixed  at  a  price  per  cubic  yard  of  snow  and 
ice  for  the  actual  fall  of  snow  in  the  place  or  places  where  the 
work  under  this  contract  is  carried  on,  the  depth  of  the  snow 
fall  to  be  determined  by  the  reports  of  the  United  States 
Weather  Bureau. 

In  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  220  miles  of  street  are  sched- 
uled for  snow  removal ;  in  Brooklyn,  78  miles. 

The  contract  requires  the  contractor  to  provide  all  horses, 
carts  and  labor  necessary  for  the  performance  of  the  work, 
and  'to  secure  the  use  of  dumps  and  dumping-  places,  and  to 
keep  the  water  in  and  about  the  slips,  piers  and  bulkheads 
clear  from  snow  and  ice  dumped  therein.  Within  three  hours 
after  the  commissioner  has  ordered  the  work  to  begin,  the 
contractor  is  required  to  have  employed  and  working  at  least 
twenty  vehicles  and  fifty  laborers,  exclusive  of  officers,  in  each 
and  every  subdivision  specified  in  the  schedule  of  streets  to  be 
cleaned.  The  contractor  shall  begin  work  at  points  designated 
in  the  beginning  of  the  schedules  and  follow  such  schedules 
day  and  night  without  deviation,  except  by  orders  of  the  com- 
missioner or  snow  inspector.  The  commissioner  may  require 
the  contractor  to  go  back  over  the  work  and  perform  addi- 
tional cleanings,  and  he  may  also  designate  for  cleaning  streets 
other  than  those  scheduled.  The  commissioner  is  permitted 
to  use  the  regular  forces  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning 
for  removing  snow,  but  the  contractor  shall  not  ask  any  com- 
pensation on  account  of  the  work,  nor  on  account  of  any  work 
of  snow  removal  performed  by  street  railroad  companies  with 
the  consent  of  the  commissioner.  The  contract  also  permits 
the  commissioner  to  allow  the  contractor  the  use  of  the  D.  S. 
C.  horses,  for  which  the  city  must  be  compensated. 


19 


The  amount  of  work  done  by  the  contractor  is  ascertained 
in  the  following  manner :  Special  inspectors  or  district  super- 
intendents stationed  in  each  district  make  written  reports  of 
the  number  of  'blocks  fully  cleaned  during  the  previous  twelve 
hours,  and  from  these  reports  the  snow  inspector  computes 
the  number  of  cubic  yards  of  snowfall  removed  by  the  con- 
tractor. None  but  entirely  completed  blocks  are  considered 
in  the  computation. 

When  from  weather  or  other  conditions  the  snow  is  reduced 
to  an  average  depth  of  four  inches  or  less,  it  shall  be  discre- 
tionary with  the  commissioner  to  declare  the  work  under  the 
contract  suspended  until  the  occurrence  of  another  storm. 

The  damage  to  be  suffered  by  the  contractor  if  he  fails  to 
begin  work  and  carry  it  on  properly  within  three  hours,  or 
within  such  further  time  as  may  be  allowed  by  the  commis- 
sioner, is  fixed  at  $25  for  each  and  every  hour  of  delay  at  each 
and  every  block.  The  commissioner  is  also  permitted  to  de- 
duct from  any  money  due  the  contractor  $5  for  each  load  of 
snow  dumped  on  any  pirblic  thoroughfare  or  at  any  other  place 
not  approved  by  the  commissioner. 

THE    "INCIDENTAL"    EXPENDITURES    OF    THE    D.  S.  C. 
UNDER  MAJOR  WOODBURY. 

The  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning,  like  the  heads  of 
other  city  departments,  is  permitted  by  the  Charter  to  pur- 
chase supplies  in  lots  not  exceeding  $1,000  in  value,  utilizing 
for  this  purpose  his  regular  appropriation  or  the  proceeds  of 
any  special  revenue  bonds  that  may  be  issued  for  the  purchase 
of  new  stock  or  plant  for  his  department.  All  purchases  ex- 
ceeding $1,000  in  amount  must  be  let  by  public  contract  to  the 
lowest  bidder. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  purchasing  of  supplies  without  public 
letting  is  at  once  a  vehicle  for  the  distribution  of  a  vast  amount 
of  patronage  and  a  club  for  the  punishment  of  political  of- 
fenders. At  the  same  time  the  method  is  justified  by  the  fact 
that  it  enables  department  heads  to  act  quickly  in  cases  where 
emergency  demands  new  equipment  for  the  work  in  hand. 
The  privilege,  however,  can  'be  greatly  abused,  and  it  fre- 
quently happens  in  more  than  one  department  that  during  a 
year  supplies  of  certain  kinds  are  purchased  from  time  to  time 
in  lots  coming  within  the  thousand  dollar  valuation ;  whereas, 
if  such  purchases  were  contracted  for,  after  proper  investiga- 
tion of  the  needs  of  the  department,  a  substantial  sum  of 
money  might  be  saved  to  the  city. 

From  the  records  of  the  Finance  Department,  as  published 
in  Supplements  of  the  "City  Record,"  a  number  of  details  have 
been  taken  relating  to  the  purchasing  of  street  cleaning  sup- 

20 


plies  without  public  letting  during  the  four  years  of  Commis- 
sioner Woodbury's  administration.  The  following  table  shows 
in  round  figures  the  amounts  thus  expended. 


1902. 

Revenue  Bond  Fund..  $46,400 
Appropriation  Account  130,100 


1903.         1904.  1905. 
$19,950     $35,850  $61,840 
171,530      130,200  144775 


$176,500    $191,480    $166,050  $206,615 

Total  in  round  figures  for  the  four  years,  $740,645. 

About  28  per  cent,  of  the  above  sum  ($740,645)  was  used  to 
pay  for  supplies  purchased  from  the  Department  of  Correc- 
tion and  the  state  prisons,  the  yearly  divisions  being  as 
follows  : 

1902.  J903.  1904.  1905. 

$28,000  $50,000  $44,900  $84,250 

Total  in  round  figures,  $207,150. 

The  largest  items  of  expenditure  in  1902,  irrespective  of  the 
sums  paid  for  prison  supplies,  included  such  supplies  as  hay, 
oats  and  forage ;  coal,  lumber,  leather,  paint  and  rope.  For 
hay,  oats  and  forage,  $11,350  in  round  figures  were  expended, 
three  firms  furnishing  most  of  these  supplies.  About  seven 
dealers  in  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn  supplied  the  'bulk  of  the 
coal,  their  bills  ranging  from  90  cents  to  $999.60,  the  total 
approximating  $7,500.  Thirty-five  or  more  separate  lots  of 
lumber  were  purchased,  the  aggregate  value  (being  $4,600, 
which  was  distributed  principally  among  four  firms.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  leather,  valued  at  $4,400,  was  largely  supplied 
by  one  company  dealing  in  harness  supplies.  From  a  company 
of  paint  dealers  most  of  the  department's  paint  was  purchased, 
the  twenty-five  or  more  bills  amounting  to  $4,090,  while  the 
rope,  valued  at  $4,000,  was  furnished  in  large  and  small  lots 
by  three  dealers. 

In  1903  the  amounts  of  the  more  notable  purchases  without 
public  letting  included  coal,  $10,400;  lumber,  $9,400;  blankets, 
harness  and  harness  supplies,  $9,500;  sweeping  machines, 
$5,000 ;  horses,  $6,200 ;  leather,  $2,600 ;  and  paint,  $2,600.  The 
coal  purchased  in  large  lots,  amounting  to  $6,800,  was  fur- 
nished by  one  dealer,  the  small  purchases  being  distributed 
among  seven  other  merchants.  Of  the  money  expended  for 
harness  and  'blankets,  $4,500  was  taken  from  the  revenue  'bond 
fund,  and  practically  the  whole  of  this  amount  went  to  the 
company  which  furnished  the  leather  in  1902.  The  same  con- 
cern also  received  a  fair  allowance  of  the  'balance  spent  for 
these  items  out  of  the  department's  appropriation  in  1903,  this 
also  being  true  of  the  sum  expended  for  leather.  Most  of  the 
horses  and  all  of  the  sweeping  machines  were  purchased  with 


2 1 


the  proceeds  of  revenue  bond  sales.  All  but  one  of  the  horses 
were  supplied  by  a  firm  of  dealers  which  is  frequently  success- 
ful in  securing  contracts  for  furnishing  the  department  with 
stock.  The  department  bought  all  its  sweeping  machines  from 
one  man,  while  its  lumber  and  paint  came  from  numerous 
dealers.  Two  or  three  lumber  firms,  however,  were  especially 
favored. 

The  record  for  1904  shows  the  following  items,  which,  while 
purchased  in  small  lots,  amount  in  the  aggregate  to  sums  of 
considerable  size :  Harness,  blankets  and  harness  supplies, 
$14,000;  hardware,  $10,600;  sweeping  machines,  $9,500;  lum- 
ber, $7,400;  ash  cart  bodies,  $6,900;  ash  cart  supplies,  $6,400; 
coal,  $5,600;  hose,  $5,500;  drugs,  $4,500;  wheels  and  hubs, 
$4,650;  paint,  $3,800;  leather,  $3,000. 

The  harness,  blankets  and  harness  supplies  were  purchased 
mainly  from  the  two  firms  which  figure  largely  on  the  depart- 
ment's books  for  the  four  year  as  furnishers  of  such  articles. 
A  general  supply  company  and  a  hardware  firm  supplied  a 
large  percentage  of  this  material,  while  of  the  $9,500  spent  for 
sweeping  .machines,  $7,100  went  to  one  company  (a  new  name), 
the  balance  being  paid  to  the  man  who  supplied  the  'machines 
in  1903.  The  ash  cart  bodies  and  parts  not  built  by  prison 
labor  were  supplied  by  one  man.  Several  dealers  furnished 
the  department  with  coal,  a  few  of  the  names  figuring  in  the 
two  previous  years  being  absent,  other  firms  taking  their 
place.  Drugs  were  furnished  principally  by  one  firm,  and 
paint  by  half  a  dozen  firms.  From  the  concerns  which  fur- 
nished the  harness  supplies  most  of  the  leather  was  purchased, 
while  the  department  got  wheels  and  hubs  from  several  deal- 
ers.   Two  companies  supplied  most  of  the  hose. 

The  record  for  1905  contains  the  following  notable  pur- 
chases: Hardware,  $11,750;  harness  and  harness  supplies, 
$9,600;  paint,  $8,000;  ash  cart  materials,  $7,100;  lumber, 
$6,100;  wheels  and  hubs,  $6,000  ;  tools,  $3,700;  drugs,  $3,700; 
machinery,  $3,500;  castings,  $3,500;  coal,  $3,400;  hose,  $3,400; 
building  material,  $3,300;  horses,  $3,000. 

The  goods  were  supplied  in  virtually  the  same  quantities 
during  1905  as  in  other  years  and  with  few  exceptions  by  the 
same  firms.  A  number  of  firms  maintained  steady  relations 
with  the  department  during  the  entire  four  years,  while  some 
dropped  out  and  were  replaced  by  others. 


22 


THE  PURCHASE,  SALE  AND  HIRING  OF  HORSES  BY 
THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STREET  CLEANING  IN 
1902-1903-1904-1905. 

The  horses  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  are  pur- 
chased principally  by  contract.  The  price  paid  for  horses  has 
increased,  due,  it  is  said,  to  the  general  advance  of  prices  in 
the  horse  market.  The  horses  are  bought  in  lots  ranging  from 
25  to  250.  The  average  price  paid  for  horses  has  risen  from 
1902-1905  as  follows: 

1902  average  price,  $242.40 

1903  "  "  272.50 

1904  "  "  277.50 

1905  "  "  295.00 

Average  price  for  four  years,  $271.35 

The  following  is  a  report  of  the  horses  sold  at  auction  by  the 
Department  of  Street  Cleaning  during  the  years  1 902- 1903 -1904- 
1905,  and  the  amounts  received  for  them  : 

Manhattan  and  the  Bronx 


Date  of                          No.  of  Horses  Amount         Average  per 

Sale.                                Sold.  Received.  Horse. 

May  27,  1902                              83  $4,200.00  $50.60 

Dec.  26,  1902                             126  4,462.00  35.41 

Oct.  29,  1903                             103  4,194.50  4072 

Apr.  19,  1904                             101  54/000  54- 16 

May  16,  1904                                1  55-00  55-00 

Apr.  26,  1905                             115  7,227.50  62.85 

Oct.  11,  1905                             124  7,263.00  58.57 

653  $32,872.00  $50.34 


On  October  29,  1904,  there  were  six  (6)  colts  sold;  they 
brought  $160.00,  an  average  of  $26.67  each. 


Brooklyn 

Date  of  No.  of  Horses  Amount         Average  per 

Sale.                                Sold.                Received.  Horse. 

June  26,  1902                             21                    $933-45  $44-45 

Jan.  13,  1903                              55                   2,959.55  53-8i 

Apr.  29,  1903                              72                   4.340. 16  60.28 

Apr.  28,  1904                              45  (inc.  3  colts)  3,557-70  79-o6 

Sept.  4,  1904                              21                    1,264.83  60.23 

Apr.  28,  1905                               37  (inc.  4  colts)  3.089.87  83.51 

Oct.    5,1905                               22  (inc.  3  colts)  1,149.94  52.27 

273                  $17,295.50  $63.35 
23 


The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  horses  bought,  lost 
by  death  (shot  and  by  disease),  and  sold  at  public  auction  by  the 
Department  of  Street  Cleaning : 

1902-1903 

Excess  Excess 
purchased  died  and 
over  died  sold  over 

Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  Purchases.  Died.    Sold,  and  sold,  purch'sed. 


From  Mar.,  1902,  to  May,  1902.. 

300 

183 

83 

34 

From  Nov.,  1902,  to  Jan.,  1903. . 

300 

144 

126 

30 

r  roni  wet.,  iyuj,  to  uec,  1903  • 

•  250 

102 

103  and 

6  colts. 

45 

Total  

.  850 

429 

312  and 

109 

6  colts 

Brooklyn. 

•  85 

159 

21 

Jan.,  1903,  to  Mar.,  1903  

250 

119 

127 

4 

Sept.,  1903,  to  Oct.,  1903  

175 

79 

66 

30 

Total  

.  5io 

357 

214 

1904- 

1905 

Excess  Excess 
purchased  died  and 
over  died  sold  over 

Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  Purchases.  Died.     Sold,  and  sold,  purch'sed. 


From  Nov.,  1904,  to  Jan.,  1905. 

250 

125 

IOI 

24 

From  June,  1905,  to  Dec,  1905. 

350 

240 

no 

Total  

6oo 

125 

341 

134 

Brooklyn. 

80 

67 

59  and 

4  colts 

Dec,  1904,  to  Feb.,  1905  

200 

Oct.,  1905,  to  Dec,  1905  

150 

350 

Total   

430 

67 

59 

304 

Total  all  boroughs,  1902-1903.. 

1,360 

786 

526 

48 

Total  all  boroughs,  1904-1905.-. 

1,030 

192 

400 

438 

Total  all  boroughs,  1902-1905.. 

2,390 

978 

926  and  486 

10  colts 


Under  the  Charter  the  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning  is 
empowered  to  hire  in  an  emergency  men,  carts  and  horses  to  sup- 
plement the  force  owned  by  the  city  for  the  use  of  his  department. 


24 


During  the  years  1902- 1903- 1904- 1905  the  Commissioner 
hired  for  use  in  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  alone,  on  883  different 
days,  a  total  of  57,207  horses  for  the  sum  of  $101,151.71.  '  The 
average  number  of  horses  hired  each  of  the  883  days  was  63  2-3,. 
and  the  average  expenditure  per  day  for  this  purpose  on  each  of 
the  883  days  was  $114.54. 

The  following  is  a  summary  by  years : 


1902-1903-1904-1905-  MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX.  Horses  hired. 


No.  of  persons 
hiring  to  D.S.C. 

No.  horses 
hired. 

Total  No. 
of  days. 

A  v.  No.  per 
day  for  days 
hired. 

Total  amount 
paid  for  hiring 
horses. 

~  Q  a 
0  5 

^  = 

Av.  No.  horses 
hired  from  each 
person. 

Cost  per  day 
of  hiring. 

1902 

45 

20,032 

252 

7948 

$30,167.49!   $670.38  | 

445 

1  $ii97r 

1903 

13 

1  8,976 

1  176 

1  51 

|$i6,70572|  $1,285.05  I 

690.4 

1.  $94-92- 

1904 

16 

|  17,006 

218 

78 

$33,995-5o|  $2,124.72  | 

1,062.9 

1-  $155-94 

1905 

11 

10,193 

1  237 

1  43 

|$20,2«S3.oo|  $1,843-91 

926.6 

1  $85-58' 

THE  RENT  ROLL  OF  THE  D.  S.  C.  UNDER 
COMMISSIONER  WOODBURY. 

LEASES  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STREET  CLEAN- 
ING FOR  THE  BOROUGHS  OF  MANHATTAN,  THE 
BRONX  AND  BROOKLYN. 

LEASED  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STREET  CLEANING. 

Number  of  Total 


Boroughs.                                  Buildings.  Kent. 

Manhattan                                            55  $82,546 

The  Bronx                                           7  10,310 

Brooklyn                                              38  32,870* 

Total                                                 100  $125,726 


**No  rent  included  for  Dumping  Board  at  Coney  Island  Creek,  which, 
costs  $5  per  day  for  each  day  used. 

25 


LEASED  DURING  COMMISSIONER  WOODBURY'S  ADMINISTRATION 

Number  of  Total 


Boroughs.                                   Buildings.  Rent. 

Manhattan                                        45  $55,696 

The  Bronx                                             7  10,310 

Brooklyn                                               37  29,870** 

S   

Total    $95,876 


Percentage  of  Buildings  and  Rentals 
during  Commissioner  Woodbury's 
administration    to    total  number 

leased  and  rented  by  D.  S.  C. .  .  .      89  per  cent.     76.2  per  cent. 

**No  rent  included  for  Dumping  Board  at  Coney  Island  Creek,  which 
costs  $5  per  day  for  each  day  used. 

STABLES  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STREET 

CLEANING. 

Manhattan  and  the  Bronx 

Lessors  Term  Ann' I 

Stables.     Location,  Name.       Commenced.  Expiration.  Yrs.  Rental. 


B 

618  W.  52d  St.  G.W.Plunkitt 

Dec.  24,  1901  Dec.  24,  1906 

5 

$1,700 

B 

612-16  W.  52d  G.W.Plunkitt 

May  1,  1901  May  I, 

1911 

10 

4750 

C 

625-29  W.  130th  G.W.Plunkitt  *Aug.  i,  1904  Aug.  i, 

1914 

10 

6,000 

D 

505-9  E.  116th  G.W.Plunkitt 

Sept.  15,  1902  Nov.  1, 

1910 

5,000 

D 

511-15  E.  1 16th  G.W.Plunkitt 

Nov.  i,  1900  Nov.  1, 

1910 

10 

2,600 

E 

408-10  W.  15th  Jas.S. Herman  Sept.  1,  1901  Sept.  i, 

191 1 

10 

7,000 

F 

80th  &  Ave.  A  W.F.Cunning- 
ham 

Dec.  15, 

Dec.  15,  1897 

1907 

10 

4,000 

G 

44-6  Hamilton    Philip  Collins 

*Apr.  1,  1905  Apr.  1, 

1915 

10 

7,000 

H 

424-25  E.  48th  G.W.Plunkitt 
et  al 

*June  1,  1903  June  I, 

1913 

10 

4,000 

Brnx  152  Cortland      Siebrand  Nie- 
wenhous 

*Jul.  10,  1903  Jul.  10, 

1908 

5 

4,000 

K 

219-23  W.  97th  Cornelia  and 
Alice  Jay 

*May  1,  1905  May  I, 

1909 

5 

9.500 

Anne 

x  120  E.  32d.      Jas.  P.  Lee 

*May  1,  1905  May  1 

1906 

1 

i.35o 

10 

Total  Stables. 

$56,900 

*Leases  negotiated  during  Commissioner  Woodbury's  administration. 

Total  annual  rental  of  leases  made  by  Commissioner  Wood- 
bury, $31,850. 

76 


Brooklyn 

Lessor's  Term  Ann  I 

Stables.     Location.  Name.       Commenced.  Expiration.  Yrs.  Rental. 


B 

Butler  &  5th  av. 

Rbt.H.Taylor 

*Oct.  1,  1904  Oct. 

i, 

1909 

$55° 

B 

Butler  &  5th  av.  Robt.  Furey 

*Jan.  20,  1905  Jan. 

20, 

1915 

10 

6,000 

C 

Nostrand  av.  & 
Sterling  pi. 

F.D. Creamer 

*Jan.  8,  1905  Jan. 

8, 

I9T0 

5 

2,500 

D 

Kent  av.  &  N. 
I3th 

Hy.  C.Fischer 

*Nov.22,i9o5  Nov. 

22, 

1910 

5 

2,700 

E 

Jamaica  av.  & 
Gillen  pi. 

W.F.Donovan 
F.D. Creamer 

Oct.  29,  1901  Oct.  29,  191 1 
*Dec.  3,  1902  Dec.  3,  1912 

10 
10 

3,000 
4,000 

G 

Atlantic  av.  & 
Utica 

Mich'l  Murphy 

*May  1,  1904  May 

I, 

1909 

5 

1,500 

H 

4808  4th  av. 

Bridget  Hart 

*Oct   1,  1903  Oct. 

1913 

10 

1,800 

6 

Total  Stables. 

$22,050 

^Leases  negotiated  during  Commissioner  Woodbury's  administration. 
Total  annual  rental  of  leases  made  by  Commissioner  Wood- 
bury, $19,050. 


COMMISSIONER  WOODBURY'S  REPORT. 

The  report  recently  issued  by  the  Commissioner  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Street  Cleaning  was  for  the  four  years  ending  Decem- 
ber 31,  1905.  During  that  period  no  official  report  was  pub- 
lished by  this  department,  contrary  to  specific  charter  require- 
ments. Had  ithe  term  of  the  present  Commissioner  expired  on 
January  1,  the  public  would  have  been  left  without  an  official 
statement  from  him  on  the  administration  of  his  office. 

The  report  itself  is  unsatisfactory.  Intended  to  cover  the 
period  of  four  years,  it  fails  to  take  the  work  of  each  year  un- 
der separate  review.  As  a  whole,  the  report  resemfoles  more 
nearly  a  discursive  lecture  on  street  cleaning  in  Xew  York  than 
a  statement  of  what  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  has  ac- 
tually achieved,  and  at  what  expense,  during  the  past  four  years. 
Twenty-two  of  its  fifty-seven  pages  are  devoted  to  the  question 
of  final  disposition.  Of  these  twenty-two,  one  and  one-half 
pages  are  filled  with  a  description  of  the  methods  employed  by 
the  Sanitary  Utilization  Company  in  carrying  out  its  contract 
with  the  city  for  the  final  disposition  of  garbage.  It  is  not 
stated,  however,  what  are  the  terms  of  the  contract,  nor  is  it 
shown  that  the  city  could  not  profitably  perform  this  work  itself. 
Three  pages  are  given  over  to  the  methods  and  achievements 
of  the  American  Railway  Traffic  Company  in  disposing  of  ashes 
in  Brooklyn.  Here,  again,  there  is  no  statement  of  the  terms 
of  the  contract  nor  any  reference  to  its  specification  of  the 


21 


methods  to  be  employed  in  its  fulfillment.  Finally,  eleven  pages 
are  devoted  to  a  technical  description  of  one  of  the  department's 
incinerators. 

Both  for  the  public  and  the  department  itself  a  lucid  and  de- 
tailed report  is  of  the  highest  importance.  On  one  hand,  the 
public  requires  information  of  the  cost  and  extent  of  the  depart- 
ment's operations  and  knowledge  of  the  problems  of  administra- 
tion, to  judge  fairly  of  the  work  of  the  heads  of  departments. 
( )n  the  other  hand,  heads  of  departments  can  hardly  expect  the 
support  and  confidence  of  the  public  unless  it  is  advised  of  the 
facts  relative  to  their  performances.  Alt  present  the  reports  of 
the  departments  are  composed  as  the  head  of  the  department 
reporting  may  see  fit.  It  is  not  prescribed  what  information  the 
reports  shall  contain  nor  in  what  manner  the  department  ac- 
counts shall  be  displayed.  Indeed,  the  keeping  of  their  accounts 
by  departments  is  entirely  a  fortuitous  matter. 

The  report  under  consideration  abounds  in  general  state- 
ments which  in  no  sense  adequately  convey  an  exact  impression 
of  the  operation  discussed.  This  deficiency  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  following:  On  page  23,  under  the  title  of  ''Purchase  and 
Issue  of  Supplies,"  the  report  reads,  "The  supplies  necessary  for 
the  conduct  of  the  department  are  purchased  from  time  to  time 
as  needed,  and  if  in  small  quantities,  and  not  large  in  cost, 
orders  may  be  sent  direct,  but  for  supplies  that  may  be  needed 
in  very  large  quantities  and  at  great  cost,  contracts  are  let,"  etc. 
It  would  have  been  more  instructive  to  state  that  the  law  allows 
buying  without  contracts  in  amounts  up  to  Si.oco,  and  that  the 
Department  of  Street  Cleaning  had  availed  itself  of  the  privilege 
so  allowed  to  the  extent  of  purchasing  without  public  letting, 
during  the  four  years,  goods  to  the  value  of  $700,000  and  more. 
Again  the  report  states  that  the  "property  responsibility  of  the 
Department  is  most  accurately  kept  and  accounted  for,"  but  it 
nowhere  states  what  this  property  is  or  amounts  to  or  what 
additions  were  made  to  it,  or  what  amount  of  it  was  disposed  of 
and  at  what  price  during  the  four  years  under  review.  The  re- 
port should  have  fully  accounted  for  all  property  in  the  keeping 
of  the  Commissioner  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning.  It 
should  have  been  shown  what  property  was  delivered  into  his 
custody  at  the  commencement  of  his  term,  what  disposition,  if 
any,  was  made  of  such  property,  what  additions  purchased,  etc., 
with  an  accompanying  analyzed  statement  of  the  expenditures 
for  stock  and  plant.  The  public  has  the  right  to  know,  for  ex- 
ample, that  2390  horses  were  purchased  at  an  average  cost  of 
S271.25  per  horse  during  this  period,  and  that  978  died,  while 
926  were  sold  at  an  average  price  of  $56.84. 

It  seems  entirely  reasonable  to  demand  that  the  heads  of  de- 
partments account  for  all  money  expended  by  them  in  a  detailed 

28 


and  intelligible  manner.  It  is  believed  that  the  report  under 
consideration  should  have  such  accounts,  properly  certified  by 
the  Commissioner  of  Accounts. 

Expenditures  in  the  report  are  classified  under  several  ac- 
counts, grouped  as  working  accounts  and  others.  The  classifi- 
cation of  working  accounts  is  nowhere  explained.  The  reader 
is  left  to  guess  the  distinction  between  the  accounts  entitled 
"General  Administration,"  for  example,  and  "Administration/' 
He  has  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  significance  of  the  account 
entitled  "Sweeping,"  nor  what  is  included  under  the  item  of 
"Carting." 

It  is  earnestly  hoped  that  the  distinguished  commission  now 
considering  the  question  of  reform  in  the  accounting  methods 
of  the  city  will  recommend  the  inauguration  of  departmental 
administrative  accounts  to  be,  from  time  to  time,  made  public. 
The  Bureau  of  City  Betterment  is  not  prepared  to  suggest  a 
method  for  keeping  and  publishing  such  accounts.  It  desires, 
however,  to  make  an  urgent  appeal  for  the  consideration  of  this 
important  matter  by  the  properly  qualified  commission. 

Under  the  head  of  cash  receipts  the  statement  shows  the 
receipts  by  the  department  from  incidental  sources.  No  state- 
ment is  given  of  the  funds  made  available  for  the  purposes  of 
the  department  by  appropriation,  or  issue  of  stock  or  revenue 
bonds. 

Among  the  items  in  the  statement  of  cash  receipts  is  placed 
the  receipts  from  the  privilege  of  trimming  the  scows  at  the 
dumps.  These  receipts  are  referred  to  on  page  30  of  this 
pamphlet,  under  the  head  of  "Trimming."  They  are  shown  to 
have  decreased  during  the  past  four  years,  by  a  statement  of  the 
report  of  the  commissioner,  from  $92,000  to  $58,000.  On  pa^e 
34  of  the  report  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning,  11  the 
analysis  of  the  cost  of  operating  the  incinerator  plant  under  the 
Williamsburg  Bridge,  it  is  stated  that  there  is  included  no  cost 
for  labor  charges  in  the  incinerator  plant,  "because  the  privilege 
of  picking  out  the  marketable  rubbish  on  the  belt  conveyor  pays 
the  operating  expenses."  This  statement  is  likely  to  mislead. 
The  person  to  whom  the  privilege  for  trimming  is  given  agrees 
to  pay  the  city  a  certain  sum  of  money  each  week  for  this  privi- 
lege as  long  as  it  is  accorded  him.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
trimmer  is  allowed  about  $500  per  week  for  furnishing  labor 
to  feed  and  stoke  the  incinerators.  The  allowance  is  deducted 
from  the  payments  made  by  him  for  his  privilege.  In  other 
words,  money  derived  from  the  sale  of  city  property  (for  that 
is  what  the  paper,  rags,  etc.,  taken  by  the  trimmer,  properlv  is), 
money  which,  according  to  law,  should  be  deposited  in  the  Sink- 
ing Fund,  is  diverted  to  the  payment  of  the  labor  cost  of  operat- 
ing the  incinerators.    The  city  loses  this  revenue  for  sinking 


29 


fund  purposes,  and  the  department  which  appropriates  it  makes 
no  accounting  for  it  either  in  the  cost  of  operating  the  incin- 
erators or  elsewhere.  This  appears  to  he  a  most  flagrant  viola- 
tion of  business-like  methods.  Its  continuance  should  not  be 
tolerated.  The  argument  that  this  practice  results  in  a  saving 
to  the  city  is  most  specious.  Xo  one  profits  by  it  except,  per^ 
haps,  the  trimmer  who  doubtless  derives  an  income  from  pro- 
viding laborers  to  the  city,  who  receive  from  him  less  wages 
than  he,  in  turn,  receives  for  their  labor  from  the  Department 
of  Street  Cleaning. 

TRIMMING. 

The  process  by  which  material  of  market  value  is  extracted 
from  the  rubbish  and  ashes,  after  their  removal  to  the  dump- 
ing boards,  is  called  "trimming,"  and  the  work  is  performed 
by  Italians  employed  by  the  contractor  having  the  trimming 
privilege.  The  income  derived  by  the  city  from  the  letting  of 
the  trimming  privilege  has  fallen  from  $92,579.20  in  1902  to 
$58,028.00  in  1905.  This  notable  decrease,  Commissioner 
Woodbury  stated  in  reply  to  an  inquiry,  is  due  to  three  cir- 
cumstances: First,  the  greater  amount  of  labor  furnished  by 
the  trimming  contractor  in  connection  with  the  stoking  of 
incinerators  and  the  trimming  of  scowts  ;  second,  the  break  in 
the  paper  market  during  the  year  1904;  third,  the  fact  that  the 
large  department  stores  have  discovered  that  their  daily  output 
of  paper  may  be  converted  into  cash,  which  accounts  for  a 
smaller  quantity  being  sent  to  the  dumps. 

The  commissioner's  third  explanation  can  scarcely  be  taken 
at  its  face  value,  for  the  practice  of  selling  department  store 
waste  is  by  no  means  of  recent  date.  Such  stores  have  long 
considered  their  waste  paper  and  cardboard  as  much  an  article 
of  merchandise  as  new  cloth  or  shoes,  and  it  is  not  their  policy 
to  throw  away  anything  that  is  saleable.  If  there  has  been  a 
decrease  in  the  quantity  of  convertible  materials  delivered  to 
the  dumps  in  the  last  four  years,  it  is  probably  due  to  the  activ- 
ities of  private  paper  collectors,  wdiose  numbers  are  constantly 
growing.  These  private  collectors,  most  of  whom  are  Italians, 
cover  the  city  thoroughly  in  wagons  or  push  carts.  They 
watch  for  the  "P  &  R"  card  of  the  Department  of  Street  Clean- 
ing, and  frequently  succeed  in  getting  the  householder's  paper 
and  rubbish  before  the  department's  carts  arrive.  The  paper 
thus  gathered  is  disposed  of  to  dealers  in  waste  materials. 

Xo  regular  contract  has  been  made  for  trimming  by  the  De- 
partment of  Street  Cleaning  since  July,  1903,  when  a  new 
contractor  defaulted;  and  Commissioner  Woodbury  asserts 
that  he  is  under  no  legal  obligation  to  enter  into  contracts  for 
this  purpose,  although  he  intends  to  do  so  soon.    At  the  pres- 

30 


cut  time  two  Italians  have  an  agreement  which  binds  them  to 
load  and  trim  the  scows  and  Barney  dumpers,  and  to  pay  for 
the  privilege  of  appropriating  so  much  of  the  material  as  may 
be  taken  to  them  at  the  following  rates  per  week,  to  be  paid  in 


advance : 

Dumps.  Ashes.  Paper  and  Rubbish.  Total. 

Clinton  Street   $55-QO  $55«oo 

Stanton      "    75-°°  75-°° 

29th          "                       $20.00  80.00  100.00 

46th  "   

61  st           "                          25.00  100.00  125.00 

80th           "                          50.00  120.00  170.00 

110th         "                          25.00  105.00  130.00 

Lincoln  Avenue                   10.00  75-°°  85.00 

Canal  Street   10.00  10.00 

30th       "                            25.00  75-00  100.00 

134th      "                            25.00  125.00     •  150.00 

47th       "                            50.00  150.00  200.00 


$1,200.00 

The  agreement  permits  the  contractor  to  demand  reductions 
in  his  payments  in  case  of  any  change  in  method  resulting  in 
the  diversion  of  paper  and  rubbish  from  any  dump  to  a  dump 
not  included  in  the  above. 

Only  about  $700  of  the  above  amount  is  paid  to  the  city  in 
cash,  for  the  contractor  is  permitted  by  Commissioner  Wood- 
bury to  pay  the  equivalent  of  the  balance  in  labor,  furnished 
to  the  Delancey  Street  incinerator,  which  generates  electric 
power  to  light  the  Williamsburg  Bridge.  Since  September 
18,  1905,  a  constant  deduction  of  $100  a  week  has  been  made 
to  the  contractor  for  day  work  at  the  incinerator,  he  being 
expected  to  furnish  men  enough  to  do  the  necessary  feeding 
and  stoking.  About  a  month  later,  on  October  23,  the  trim- 
ming contractor  began  to  furnish  men  for  night  work,  receiv- 
ing in  addition  to  the  regular  rebate  of  $100  the  sum  of  25 
cents  an  hour  per  man,  although  it  was  stipulated  that  the 
total  amount  paid  for  labor  each  night  should  not  exceed  $60, 
exclusive  of  $3  per  night  or  $21  per  week  of  seven  days  for  a 
foreman.  Twenty  men  working  twelve  hours  each  night  at 
25  cents  an  hour  per  man  would  entitle  the  contractor  to  a 
rebate  of  $60.  Therefore  the  maximum  sum  per  week  that  he 
could  be  allowed  for  labor  under  the  agreement  is  $541,  divided 
as  follows:  Day  labor,  $100;  night  labor,  $420;  foremen,  $21 


31 


The  laborers  thus  supplied  are  designated  as  feeders,  stok- 
ers, Moormen,  and  the  dump  inspector  assigned  to  the  incin- 
erator is  required  to  keep  a  record  of  their  number,  and  the 
hours  of  their  employment.  Upon  this  record  the  amount  of 
the  rebate  for  night  work  is  computed,  the  total  varying  from 
week  to  week. 

The  department  also  has  a  weekly  agreement  with  a  con- 
tractor in  The  Bronx,  whereby  he  pays  $144  in  advance  for  the 
privilege  of  collecting  all  paper  and  light  refuse  delivered  to 
the  following  dumps :  Lincoln  Avenue,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-fourth  Street  and  Whitlock  Avenue,  One  Hundred  and 
Sixty-second  Street  and  Jerome  Avenue,  and  the  corner  of 
Garden  Street,  west  of  the  Southern  Boulevard.  The  con- 
tractor also  receives,  free  of  charge,  all  ashes  delivered  by  the 
department  to  the  Jerome  Avenue  dump. 

The  weekly  returns  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  to 
the  City  Chamberlain,  from  the  letting  of  the  trimming  privi- 
lege, from  January  1,  1906,  to  March  24,  1906,  amounted  to 
$8,859.50,  or  an  average  for  the  twelve  weeks  of  $738.29,  which 
is  equivalent  to  $38,391.08  a  year. 

The  city  derives  no  revenue  from  trimming  at  the  Brooklyn 
receiving  stations,  for  the  final  disposition  of  paper  and  rub- 
bish, as  well  as  of  ashes  and  street  sweepings,  is  placed  en- 
tirely in  the  hands  of  the  American  Railway  Traffic  Company 
by  the  terms  of  its  contract  with  the  city. 

FINAL  DISPOSITION. 

The  ashes,  street  sweepings,  and  a  part  of  the  rubbish  col- 
lected in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  are  utilized  'by  the  bureau 
of  final  disposition  in  making  new  land  at  Riker's  Island  and 
other  places  owned  by  the  city  and  by  private  individuals. 
About  one-fifth  of  the  total  output  of  rubbish  collected  in  the 
Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  is  handled  at  the  De- 
lancey  Street  incinerator  plant,  where  the  heat  is  used  to  gen- 
erate electricity  for  lighting  the  Williamsburg  Bridge  at  night. 
A  smaller  incinerator  on  the  West  Forty-seventh  Street  pier 
also  handles  a  good  deal  of  rubbish  and  generates  electricity 
for  the  lighting  of  one  of  the  department  stables. 

In  Brooklyn  the  American  Railway  Traffic  Company  has  a 
contract  for  finally  disposing  of  ashes,  street  sweepings  and 
rubbish.  The  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  hauls  this  ma- 
terial to  the  thirteen  receiving  stations  of  the  company,  which 
transports  the  ashes  and  street  sweepings  by  car  to  various 
land-fills  on  the  outskirts  of  the  borough.  Most  of  the  paper 
and  rubbish  is  sold  by  the  company,  although  a  small  percent- 
age is  consumed  by  incinerators. 


32 


The  final  disposition  of  garbage  is  carried  out  under  con- 
tract with  the  Sanitary  Utilization  Company.  The  department 
hauls  the  material  to  piers  set  aside  for  the  dumping  of  sub- 
stances classified  as  garbage,  and  the  company  transports  the 
material  on  its  own  scows  to  Barren  Island,  where  a  factory 
for  the  utilization  of  animal  and  vegetable  product  is  located. 
Here  the  garbage  is  reduced  to  grease  and  fertilizer  filler. 

Under  the  new  contract  for  the  final  disposition  of  the  gar- 
bage collected  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  which  becomes 
efTective  August  i,  the  city  will  pay  the  contracting  company 
$148,000  a  year  for  five  years.  The  average  daily  amount  of 
garbage  to  be  handled  is  estimated  at  600  tons  to  begin  with. 
The  records  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  show  that 
the  average  number  of  tons  per  year  handled  during  the  five 
years  beginning  with  1900  was  158,845,  and  this  estimate  the 
successful  bidder  took  into  consideration  when  submitting  his 
proposal. 

The  garbage  collected  in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn  is  finally 
disposed  of  under  a  five  years'  contract,  whidi  began  on  Sep- 
tember 1,  1902.  It  was  then  estimated  that  about  300  tons  of 
material  would  be  handled  daily.  The  total  compensation  for 
the  work  is  $47,990  per  annum. 

The  maximum  daily  output  of  garbage  in  the  Borough  of 
the  Bronx  was  estimated  at  no  tons  when  the  contract  for 
final  disposition  was  made.  By  the  terms  of  the  contract  the 
city  agreed  to  pay  the  successful  bidder  the  following  yearly 
sums,  work  beginning  on  December  1,  1903:  First  year,  $15,- 
000;  second,  $16,000;  third,  $18,000;  fourth,  $21,000;  and  fifth, 
$25,000. 

THE  PRESENT  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  D.  S.  C.  AND  THE 

WORKING  FORCE. 

For  the  purpose  of  street  sweeping  and  the  collection  of 
ashes,  garbage  and  refuse  the  three  boroughs  controlled  by 
the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  are  divided  into  twenty- 
one  districts,  thirteen  of  which  are  in  the  Boroughs  of  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx  and  eight  in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn. 
Each  district  is  under  the  supervision  of  a  district  superin- 
tendent and  is  subdivided  into  sections,  a  section  foreman  and 
several  assistants  supervising  the  work  of  the  cartmen  and 
sweepers  in  each  section.  The  section  foremen  report  to  the 
district  superintendents,  who  in  turn  are  responsible  to  a  gen- 
eral superintendent  and  an  assistant  general  superintendent, 
the  two  latter  officers  coming  under  the  immediate  direction 
of  the  deputy  commissioner.  The  Commissioner  of  Street 
Cleaning  is  responsible  for  the  work  of  the  department  in  its 
entirety. 


53 


The  enforcement  of  the  law  relating  to  the  encumbering  of 
the  streets  by  unused  vehicles,  boxes,  bales  and  other  movable 
property  is  committed  to  various  men  in  each  of  the  depart- 
ment's districts,  the  respective  district  superintendents  being 
amenable  to  the  commissioner  for  the  proper  enforcement  of 
the  law. 

The  bureau  of  final  disposition  receives  all  material  col- 
lected by  the  carts  of  the  department  and  'by  permit  carts, 
with  the  exception  of  garbage,  which  is  received  and  finally 
disposed  of  by  contractors.  The  dumping  boards  along  the 
water  front  are  controlled  by  dump  inspectors  who  are  re- 
sponsible for  the  proper  separation  of  material  and  the  loading 
and  trimming  of  the  scows.  Assistant  dump  inspectors  keep 
a  tally  of  the  number  of  cartloads  of  material  delivered  to  the 
dumps,  daily  reports  'being  sent  in  to  the  department.  Dump 
inspectors  are  also  assigned  to  the  inland  receiving  stations  in 
Brooklyn.  The  bureau  of  final  disposition  is  directed  by  a 
superintendent  and  an  assistant  superintendent,  and  from  these 
two  officers  the  dump  inspectors,  their  assistants,  the  board- 
men,  scowmen,  deckhands,  and  other  employees  connected  with 
the  department's  fleet  of  scows  and  steam  dumpers,  receive 
their  orders. 

The  mechanical  bureau  of  the  department  is  in  charge  of  a 
master  mechanic  and  employs  more  than  200  men.  This  force 
repairs  the  equipment  and  keeps  the  various  stables,  section 
stables  and  dumping  'boards  in  proper  condition.  All  the 
smaller  repairs  to  the  scows  and  steam  dumpers  are  made  by 
the  bureau's  mechanics. 

The  uniform  force  of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  on 
December  31,  1905,  consisted  of  5,148  men,  divided  as  follows: 

1  General  Superintendent. 

1  Assistant  General  Superintendent. 

1  Superintendent  of  Stables. 

1  Superintendent  of  Final  Disposition. 

1  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Final  Disposition. 
20  District  Superintendents. 
96  Section  Foremen. 

189  Acting  Assistants  to  Section  Foremen. 
18  Stable  Foremen. 
18  Assistant  Stable  Foremen. 
37  Acting  Assistants  to  Stable  Foremen. 
42  Dump  Inspectors. 

22  Assistant  Dump  Inspectors. 

23  Boardmen. 
41  Scowmen. 

1  Master. 
1  Mate. 

34 


4  Engineers. 

5  Firemen. 
12  Deckhands. 

8o  Section  Station  Keepers. 

8  Incumbrance  Yardmen. 

2,434  Sweepers. 

1,375  Drivers. 

305  Drivers  Detailed. 

193  Hostlers. 

1  Master  Mechanic, 

in  Mechanics. 

101  Mechanic's  Helpers. 

6  Automobile  Enginemen. 

The  plant  of  the  department  includes  the  following: 
1,555  Carts. 
1,971  Horses. 
100  Machine  Sweepers. 
42  Scowrs. 
3  Steam  Dumpers. 

An  effort  is  made  to  maintain  among  the  members  of  the 
uniformed  force  a  discipline  approaching  as  near  as  circum- 
stances will  permit  that  Which  obtains  in  the  army,  but  the 
men  are  only  under  restraint  during  working  hours.  Fines  are 
imposed  for  violations  of  the  rules  of  the  department  as  formu- 
lated by  the  commissioner,  and  he  has  the  power  of  dismissal 
in  cases  where  grave  offenses  have  been  committed. 

Although  each  district  performs  its  work  independently  of 
the  others,  the  same  general  method  of  street  cleaning  is  car- 
ried forward  in  all  the  districts.  The  sweepers  clean  the 
streets  and  pile  the  material  near  the  curb  or  place  it  in  cans. 
In  muddy  weather  they  are  supposed  to  keep  the  crossings 
clear.  The  cartmen  have  specific  routes  which  they  follow 
daily  in  collecting  household  wastes,  ashes,  rubbish,  garbage 
and  street  sweepings.  This  material  is  hauled  to  the  dumps 
on  the  water  front,  or  inland,  as  the  case  may  be. 

STREET  CLEANING  IN  OTHER  CITIES. 

Methods  of  street  cleaning  vary  in  different  cities  and  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  make  a  fair  comparison  of  the  system  of  any  one  city  in  the 
United  States  with  that  of  New  York.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  interest- 
ing to  review  briefly  the  street  cleaning  methods  in  some  of  the  more 
important  municipalities.  The  information  presented  here  has  been 
obtained  from  official  reports  and  by  means  of  inquiries  made  by  the 
Bureau  of  City  Betterment. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

In  Philadelphia  the  work  is  done  entirely  by  contract,  the  price  foi 
the  current  year  being  $844,272.    About  55  per  cent,  of  this  amount 


35 


will,  it  is  estimated,  be  consumed  in  the  removal  of  ashes  and  house- 
hold waste  from  over  350,000  buildings  once  a  week,  as  the  contract 
requires.  The  approximate  balance  of  $380,000  pays  for  the  cleaning 
of  more  than  1,000  miles  of  paved  streets,  most  of  them  daily,  and  the 
remainder  either  twice  or  three  times  each  week,  as  well  as  the  clean- 
ing of  several  thousand  alleys  and  upwards  of  22,000  inlets  weekly  or 
more  often,  if  necessary.  The  contract  also  provides  that  the  hand 
cleaning  of  asphalt  streets  shall  be  supplemented  by  machine  sweeping 
and  sprinkling  once  a  week.  As  in  the  case  of  New  York  the  City  of 
Philadelphia  is  divided  into  cleaning  districts,  the  total  number  being 
eleven.  Detailed  reports  of  the  work  are  required  by  the  Bureau  of 
Street  Cleaning  every  day,  and  the  contract  permits  the  imposition  of 
fines  of  varying  amounts  upon  the  contractor  for  all  violations  of  the 
specifications. 

WASHINGTON. 

In  the  City  of  Washington,  D.  C,  during  the  fiscal  year  which  ended 
June  30.  1905.  the  total  area  of  streets  cleaned  by  hand  was  430,216,853 
square  yards;  the  sweepings  removed  amounted  to  34.312  cubic  yards. 
The  total  cost  of  this  work  was  $80,108.24  or  0.1862  cents  per  thousand 
square  yards.  The  minimum  number  of  laborers  employed  on  the 
work  was  161;  the  maximum  number  211;  the  days  on  which  the  work 
was  performed  numbered  253^. 

In  the  same  year  the  total  area  of  streets  cleaned  by  machine  sweep- 
ers was  32^,337-975  square  yards.  The  cubic  yards  of  sweepings  removed 
amounted  to  61,953  or  20,651  loads.  This  work  is  performed  under 
contract  at  the  rate  of  16  13-16  cents  per  thousand  square  yards,  the 
total  cost  for  the  year  1905  being  $54,361.18.  The  contract  which  ex- 
pires June  30,  1906,  provides  also  for  hose  flushing  at  the  same  rate, 
but  no  work  of  this  character  has  been  performed  since  the  summer  of 
190J.  when  it  was  discontinued  pending  investigation  by  the  engineer 
department  as  to  possible  injury  to  the  asphalt  surfacing.  The  report 
of  that  departmeht  was  unfavorable  and  hose  flushing  has  not  been 
resumed. 

The  cost  per  cubic  yard  of  sweepings  removed  in  1905  was  80  cents 
as  against  93  cents  in  1904. 

Alley  cleaning  was  performed  under  contract  in  1905  at  a  cost  of 
$11,631.30.  The  total  area  cleaned  amounted  to  33,232,290  square 
yards;  the  cubic  yards  of  sweepings  removed  numbered  14,260  or  7.130 
loads.  Work  was  performed  on  221  days,  the  cost  per  cubic  yard  of 
sweepings  removed  being  82  cents  in  1905  as  against  92  cents  in  1904. 

The  total  area  of  unimproved  streets  cleaned  under  contract  was 
22,681.544  square  yards;  the  cubic  yards  of  dirt  removed  were  18,344. 
The  total  cost  of  this  work  was  $15,892.99.  The  cost  per  cubic  yard 
of  dirt  removed  was  87  cents  in  1905  as  against  91  cents  in  1904.  Work 
■was  performed  on  222  1-10  days. 


36 


The  collection  and  disposal  of  garbage,  ashes  and  refuse  in  Wash- 
ington is  performed  under  contract. 

ST.  PAUL. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  of 
the  City  of  St.  Paul,  twenty-seven  miles  of  streets  in  that  city,  with  a 
total  area  of  650,100  square  yards,  were  swept  at  the  beginning  of  1904. 
There  were  employed  on  the  work  one  foreman,  five  teams,  and 
eighty-six  men,  at  a  cost  of  $157.60  per  day.  The  average  cost  per 
mile  of  streets  cleaned  was  $5.84,  or  21^4  cents  per  1,000  square  yards 
per  day.  At  the  close -of  the  season  the  work  had  increased  to  27M 
miles,  or  664,833  square  yards,  and  the  force  had  been  increased  to  one 
foreman,  six  teams  and  ninety-one  men,  at  a  total  cost  of  $169.10  per 
day,  the  rate  per  mile  and  per  thousand  square  yards  being  practically 
the  same. 

The  total  amount  expended  for  labor  was  $26,079.10  and  for  brooms 
and  other  appliances,  $405.25.  The  streets  swept  were  divided  into 
districts,  each  man  being  required  to  attend  to  his  own  district,  and 
provide  himself  with  a  uniform  of  white  duck.  This  method  of  clean- 
ing, the  report  says,  has  been  satisfactory. 

About  fifteen  miles  of  streets  were  swept  by  machine.  These  streets 
were  not  swept  ever}-  night,  but  in  accordance  with  the  amount  of 
traffic  and  their  condition,  ranging  from  one  to  four  times  per  week. 
The  sweeping  crew  generally  covered  five  to  six  miles  of  streets  in  a 
night's  work.  The  cost  of  the  crew  was  about  $58  per  night,  and  the 
cost  per  thousand  square  yards  was  about  54  cents. 

The  report  speaks  of  the  practice  of  flushing  paved  streets  in  the 
business  districts  at  night,  in  order  to  remove  the  fine  dust  that  cannot 
be  gathered  up  by  the  hand  sweeping.  The  amount  of  street  covered 
by  a  crew  in  1904  was  generally  a  little  less  than  two  miles  per  night, 
or  about  40.000  square  yards.  The  cost  of  the  crew  was  $17.15  per 
night,  and  the  average  cost  was  $8.75  per  mile  or  43^  cents  per  thou- 
sand square  yards. 

The  removal  of  garbage  in  St.  Paul  is  a  work  performed  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Commissioner  of  Health.  The  superintendent  of 
garbage  collection  also  removes  and  disposes  of  rubbish  and  dead 
animals. 

Animal  and  vegetable  matter  is  kept  separate  from  rubbish  and  is 
collected  in  galvanized  iron  buckets.  Most  of  the  garbage  is  hauled 
to  the  city  limits  where  it  is  transferred  to  farmers  who  haul  it  many 
miles  into  the  country  for  feeding  and  fertilizing  purposes,  and  pay 
$85  per  year  for  one  load  a  week.  The  amount  received  from  this 
source  for  the  year  1904  was  $1,393.25.  During  'that  year  7,687  loads  of 
garbage  were  removed  by  farmers  who  are  licensed  by  the  superin- 
tendent of  garbage  collection.  The  city  has  a  ready  sale  for  all  gar- 
bage that  can  be  conveniently  hauled  to  the  transfer  points. 


37 


ST.  LOUIS. 


Street  cleaning  in  St.  Louis  is  performed  by  the  municipal  govern 
ment,  which  hires  equipment  and  laborers  by  the  day  at  the  following 
prices:  Flushing  and  broom  sweeping  machines,  $6;  dirt  wagons,  $4.50; 
laborers,  $1.50;  inspectors,  $3. 

The  number  of  miles  of  streets  under  the  cleaning  process  is  206.35. 
One  man  is  given  about  five  city  blocks  to  clean,  the  average  length  of 
each  block  being  300  feet,  and  the  cost  of  labor  $1.50  per  day.  Assum- 
ing that  the  roadway  is  thirty-six  feet  wide,  five  and  one-quarter  great 
squares  are  cleaned  per  day  at  a  cost  of  28  cents  per  great  square. 
Flushing  machines  are  generally  used  on  all  pavements  except  brick, 
where  machine  sweepers  are  used,  except  when  the  pavements  are  very 
dirty.  The  average  cost  of  flushing  a  mile  of  street  is  $19  and  the  aver- 
age cost  per  mile  for  machine  sweeping  is  $8.50. 

The  existing  system  of  street  cleaning  is  considered  satisfactory  by 
the  St.  Louis  authorities,  who  assert  that  the  plan  they  pursue  of 
sprinkling  the  paved  streets  from  one  to  four  times  a  day  greatly  aids 
the  cleaning  process.  The  cost  of  sprinkling  is  charged  as  a  special 
tax  against  the  property  fronting  the  street  sprinkled,  the  average  rate 
for  the  year  amounting  to  about  four  cents  per  front  foot. 

ROCHESTER. 

In  the  City  of  Rochester  about  seventy  streets  or  parts  of  streets  are 
cleaned,  the  surface  material  being  either  asphalt,  asphalt  block,  or 
brick.  The  average  cost  of  all  sweeping  and  cleaning  was  $733.01  per 
mile  in  1904,  or  $43.22  per  thousand  square  yards.  The  average  width 
of  street  is  twenty-eight  feet. 

The  cost  of  cleaning  asphalt  streets  by  day  labor  was  $37.16  per 
thousand  square  yards  for  the  season,  or  an  average  of  $600.21  per 
mile  of  street  cleaned.  These  streets  were  cleaned  an  average  of  106 
times  during  the  season. 

The  brick  streets  cost  about  $24.23  per  thousand  square  yards,  or  an 
average  of  $383.80  per  mile,  and  were  cleaned  an  average  of  47  times 
during  the  season. 

BOSTON. 

The  methods  pursued  by  the  Street  Cleaning  Division  in  Boston  may 
be  stated  briefly.  The  water  carts  begin  the  day's  work  by  sprinkling 
the  route  to  be  covered  by  the  sweeping  machines,  which  follow  in  due 
time.  The  machines  sweep  toward  the  gutters,  and  a  force  of  hand 
sweepers  follow  and  sweep  the  dirt  up  into  piles,  the  material  being 
removed  to  the  dumps  by  carts. 

When  the  weather  permits,  the  sweeping  is  done  at  night.  An  aux- 
iliary force,  familiarly  called  the  push-cart  force,  follows  up  the  work 
of  the  night  detail  and  covers  virtually  the  same  territory  cleaned  by 


38 


the  sweeping  machines.  This  force  uses  a  small  push  cart,  from  the 
frame  of  which  a  barrel  or  bag  is  suspended.  It  is  a  popular  feature  of 
the  work  and  is  being  extended  yearly.  About  $400,000  was  expended 
in  Boston  during  the  year  1903  for  street  cleaning  and  snow  removal. 
The  cost  per  load  of  cleaning  the  streets  and  removing  the  material  to 
the  dumps  ranged  from  73  cents  to  $2.17,  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  district.  The  total  number  of  cartloads  removed  was  106,261  and 
the  number  of  barrel  and  bag  loads  108,588. 

CLEVELAND. 

During  the  year  1904  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  of  the  City 
of  Cleveland  spent  $147,785.41.  About  11,694  squares  were  cleaned 
with  flushers  at  a  cost  of  62^4  cents  per  square  of  10,000  square  feet; 
46,825  squares  with  machine  sweepers  at  $1.11  2-10  per  square;  231,000 
squares  by  "white  wings"  (men)  at  98.2  cents  per  square;  and  127,000 
squares  by  the  alley  gang  at  a  cost  of  99.6  cents  per  square.  The  de- 
partment hauled  43,646  loads  of  street  sweepings  and  8,022  loads  of 
snow. 

CHICAGO. 

The  latest  available  report  of  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Streets  is  for 
the  year  1904,  when  the  disbursements  for  street  and  alley  cleaning 
amounted  to  $274,531.70;  for  the  removal  of  garbage,  $640,602.50;  and 
for  snow  removal,  $74,284.27.  Of  the  total  cost  of  street  and  alley 
cleaning,  $48,030.61  was  charged  to  the  street  railway  companies  for 
cleaning  their  respective  rights  of  way.  The  total  mileage  of  streets 
and  alleys  cleaned  during  the  year  is  placed  at  17,544.  This  necessi- 
tated the  removal  of  128,537  loads  of  street  sweepings,  the  cutting  of 
i>323>3&5  lineal  feet  of  weeds,  and  the  opening  and  cleaning  of  354,125 
inlets  to  catch-basins.  The  number  of  loads  of  snow  removed  was 
46,676. 

As  an  object  lesson  to  the  city  officials,  a  number  of  public-spirited 
Chicagoans  organized  the  Citizens'  Street  Cleaning  Bureau,  which 
swept  and  cleaned  a  limited  area  in  the  down-town  section  during  the 
nine  months  ending  February  28,  1905.  The  work  was  supervised  by 
Richard  T.  Fox,  an  experienced  street  cleaning  chief.  The  area  cleaned 
at  the  beginning  was  gradually  extended  until  it  reached  a  total  of 
123,000  square  yards.  On  weekdays  the  streets  were  cleaned  an  aver- 
age of  two  and  a  half  times,  with  one  thorough  sweeping  on  Sundays 
and  holidays.  At  first  the  alleys  were  swept  two  or  three  times  per 
week,  but  to.ward  the  end  of  the  period  they  were  cleaned  every  night 
except  Sunday. 

The  work  of  cleaning  was  done  entirely  by  hand,  which  is  generally 
conceded  to  be  a  more  thorough  and  effective  method  than  machine 
sweeping,  especially  in  the  case  of  uneven  pavements.  It  is  stated  in 
the  report  of  the  Chicago  experiment  that  an  "advantage  of  the  hand 
broom  is  that  by  sweeping  from  the  center  of  the  street,  either  way,  to 
the  curb  the  furrows  between  the  paving  blocks  can  be  thoroughly 


39 


cleaned.  This  is  an  impossibility  for  a  machine,  as  it  cannot  be  op- 
erated except  with  the  length  of  the  street." 

When  the  bureau  first  started  work,  with  an  inexperienced  force  of 
men,  the  cost  per  thousand  square  yards  of  paving  swept  two  and  a 
half  times  daily  was  $2.40,  which  sum  was  cut  in  half  before  the  experi- 
ment ended.  Similarly,  the  cost  of  the  removal  of  sweepings  was  re- 
duced from  one  dollar  to  fifty  cents  per  cubic  yard. 

The  report  contains  some  interesting  observations  with  regard  to 
the  "preventable  dirt  and  litter  appearing,  day  after  day,  on  the  street 
surfaces,  through  carelessness  and  negligence,  and  as  a  result  of  bad 
paving."  One  man's  sole  duty  was  to  collect  paper,  fruit  skins,  straw, 
sidewalk  sweepings,  etc.,  from  the  alleys,  and  the  time  consumed  by 
the  whole  body  of  sweepers  in  gathering  such  litter  from  the  streets, 
amounted  practically  to  the  entire  time  of  three  men.  The  whole 
amount  expended  on  this  item  was  $180  per  month,  exclusive  of  cart- 
age. It  was  difficult  to  estimate  the  cost  imposed  upon  the  bureau  by 
the  spilling  of  sand,  cellar  dirt,  and  similar  materials  from  overloaded 
or  loosely  jointed  wagon  boxes.  At  two  individual  points,  however,, 
two  additional  men  were  employed  because  of  dirt  made  by  wagons 
going  to  and  from  the  dumps,  which  involved  an  expense  of  $90  a 
month.  Other  sources  of  litter  were  found  to  be  the  practice  of  lifting 
ashes  from  beneath  the  sidewalks  to  the  streets;  the  feeding  of  horses 
on  the  principal  thoroughfares;  improperly  controlled  building  opera- 
tions, and  poor  pavements. 

Records  kept  by  the  bureau  indicate  that  with  the  same  traffic  a 
given  area  of  granite  block  pavement  in  Chicago  produces  an  average 
of  40  per  cent,  more  dirt  than  an  equal  area  of  asphalt.  This  fact  is 
accounted  for  in  the  report  as  follows: 

"Sixty  per  cent,  of  the  paving,  or  practically  all  but  the  asphalt,  in 

our  streets  is  laid  on  permeable  foundations    earth  or  sand. 

The  spaces  between  the  stones  were  originally  filled  with  gravel  and 
cement,  or  tar,  but  repeated  disturbances  of  the  paving  by  public  utility 
companies,  and  others,  and  the  constant  pounding  of  heavy  traffic  has 
loosened  much  of  this  filling  and,  as  such,  it  has  disappeared,  allowing 
the  subsoil  to  work  up  through  the  joints.  In  dry  weather  this  dirt  is 
converted  to  dust;  in  wet  weather  it  is  mud." 

BUFFALO. 

For  street  cleaning  purposes  the  City  of  Buffalo  is  divided  into  dis- 
tricts, the  work  being  done  under  a  five-year  contract.  Following  are 
the  contract  prices  for  sweeping  and  cleaning  each  great  square  of 
10,000  square  feet: 

Up  to  and  including  300,000  great  squares  at  30  cents. 

Up  to  and  including  325,000  "  at  2gl/2 

Up  to  and  including  350,000  "  at  29 

Up  to  and  including  375,000  "  at  27^ 

Up  to  and  including  400,000  "  at  27 

Up  to  and  including  425,000  "  at  26^2 

40 


Any  great  squares  over  and  above  425,000  are  cleaned  at  the  rate  of 
25  cents. 

For  collecting  and  disposing  of  the  street  sweepings  twice  each  day 
$22  per  day  is  paid,  while  the  price  for  flushing  streets  is  60  cents  per 
great  square.  Labor  and  teams  for  the  removal  of  snow  and  ice  are 
furnished  at  a  price  per  cubic  yard  of  25  cents. 

Garbage,  ashes  and  refuse  are  also  collected  and  disposed  of  by  con- 
tract. For  the  ten  months  ending  July  1,  1904,  the  cost  of  the  work 
amounted  to  $165,385.53.  The  total  yards  of  ashes  and  refuse  handled 
were  323,513.17,  and  the  tons  of  garbage  numbered  16,928.39. 


In  his  report  for  the  year  1905  the  Commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning 
for  the  City  of  Baltimore  states  that  the  problem  of  street  cleaning 
was  complicated  there  during  last  year  because  of  the  large  amount  of 
new  pavement  laid  and  the  extensive  building  operations  resulting 
from  the  recent  conflagration.  He  called  attention  to  the  effect  of 
carelessness  on  the  part  of  the  public  on  the  condition  of  streets  as 
follows : 

"How  to  stop  the  littering  of  the  streets  by  thoughtless  and  careless 
people  is  a  problem  that  will  have  to  be  solved  before  we  can  ever 
hope  to  have  a  neat  and  clean  city,  and  it  seems  to  the  writer  (the 
commissioner)  that  the  prevention  of  dirt  in  our  streets  caused  by 
careless  persons  is  as  important  as  the  cleaning  of  dirt  that  cannot  be 
avoided.  And  this  is  entirely  a  matter  of  education.  Unfortunately, 
beyond  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant  the  littering  of  the  streets 
has  been  done  thoughtlessly  and  without  restraint;  it  may  be  a  fruit 
paring,  the  fragments  of  a  letter,  an  old  newspaper  thrown  into  a  street 
just  cleaned,  carelessly  and  thoughtlessly,  without  an  idea  of  wrong- 
doing; storekeepers  allowing  their  stores  to  be  swept  into  the  street 
without  protest  from  any  one;  rubbish  of  all  kinds  dumped  into  our 
streets  and  alleys,  almost  at  will,  .  .  .  It  is  high  time  that  public 
opinion  in  this  regard  should  be  rising  above  the  old  village  ideas,  and 
that  these  offenders  against  order  and  cleanliness  should  be  made  by 
the  Police  Department,  backed  by  public  opinion,  to  obey  the  law  and 
assist  us  in  having  a  city  clean  and  beautiful.    .    .  ." 


BALTIMORE. 


SUMMARY  OF  1905. 


Total  number  of  cubic  yards  of  garbage  collected  and  re- 
moved   


158,621 


Total  number  of  cubic  yards  of  ashes  and  refuse  collected 
and  removed  


492,633 


Total  number  of  cubic  yards  of  street  dirt,  sand,  snow  and 
ice  collected  and  removed  


535,751 


Total  number  of  cubic  yards  removed  from  sewers  and  in- 
lets   


18,72c 


Total  number  of  cubic  yards  of  all  kinds  removed.  . 


1,205,725 


41 


Total  amount  paid  for  the  removal  of  ashes,  garbage,  etc.,  $198,800.00 
Total  amount  paid  for  removal  of  street  dirt,  snow,  ice,  etc.,  193,190.26 
Total  amount  paid  for  sweeping  and  sprinkling  streets  by 


machine    28,096.12 

Total  amount  paid  for  tools  and  repairs   3,325.50 

Total  amount  paid  for  incidental  expenses   1,100.00 

Total  amount  paid  for. salaries   16,996.64 

Total  amount  paid  for  cleaning  sewers  and  inlets,  includ- 
ing tools   '.   18,970.23 

Total  amount  paid  for  sprinkling  roads   1,000.00 

Total  amount  paid  for  street  dirt  removed  by  scows   5,000.00 

Total  amount  paid  for  cleaning  burnt  district   21,826.64 


Total  amount  paid  for  1905..   $488,305.39 


Total  amount  received  for  sale  of  refuse   $1,338.60 

Total  number  of  street  cars  employed,  1905   113 

Total  number  of  sweepers  and  scrapers   177 

Total  number  of  sewer  men   17 

Total   307 

Cost  of  collection  and  removal  1905,  garbage  and  ashes,  per 

load   ■     $0.68 

Cost  of  carting,  per  cubic  yard  568 

Cost  of  snow  and  ice  removal,  per  cubic  yard   .218 


Total  area  swept,  1905,  3,477,400,000  square  feet,  of  which  1,735,945 
477,  or  50  per  cent.,  were  swept  by  machine. 

STREET  CLEANING  IN  DRESDEN,  GERMANY. 

In  the  City  of  Dresden,  citizens  are  forbidden  to  litter  the  streets, 
householders  depositing  rubbish,  paper,  etc.,  in  the  streets  before  their 
houses  are  required  to  remove  it  immediately.  On  the  failure  of  the 
householder  to  comply  with  this  ordinance,  the  litter  is  removed  by 
the  department  of  street  cleaning  and  the  cost  of  such  removal  col- 
lected from  the  offender. 

Dresden  is  one  of  the  "tidiest"  cities  in  the  world.  Its  population 
is  approximately  400,000.  All  of  the  streets  are  cleaned  by  the  city. 
The  total  area  now  cleaned  approximates  41,000,000  square  meters. 
The  total  cost  for  1905  was  1,139,589  marks.  This  sum  covered  the 
•cost  of  cleaning,  carting  of  sweepings,  sprinkling  and  snow  removal. 

The  following  description  of  the  methods  of  the  department  is  taken 
from  the  report  of  the  director  of  street  cleaning  for  1902,  dated  Sep- 
tember, 1903.  This  period  was  before  the  date  of  the  extension  of  the 
corporate  limits  of  the  City  of  Dresden.  The  director  stated,  however, 
in  a  letter  dated  March  7,  1906,  that  the  cost  of  cleaning  the  enlarged 
area  is  only  a  proportional  increase  over  the  cost  of  cleaning  the  street 
area  in  1902. 

42 


The  following  is  an  abstract  of  the  report: 

The  city  cleans  foot  and  driveways  and  carts  away  sweepings.  It 
removes  snow  and  ice  when  necessary,  from  footpaths  and  streets. 
Snow  is  not  removed  before  thawing  unless  it  is  of  sufficient  depth  to 
block  traffic. 

Property  owners  are  required  to  strew  ashes  or  otlier  rough  sub- 
stance upon  snow  or  ice  covered  sidewalks.  They  are  also  required 
to  remove  from  sidewalks,  otherwise  free  from  snow  and  ice,  all  snow 
that  may  fall  from  the  roofs,  or  ice  that  may  form  from  the  eaves 
dripping. 

Property  owners  are  required  to  pay  a  special  tax  of  two  marks  per 
square  meter  for  the  cleaning  of  a  street  during  the  first  year  after 
the  laying  of  the  pavement.  On  subsequent  years  the  tax  is  reduced 
to  ten  pfennig  per  square  meter.  This  tax  is  levied  on  the  basis  of  the 
frontage  of  the  lots. 

Railway  companies  are  required  to  clean  the  pavement  between  their 
rails. 

In  1902  the  total  area  cleaned  was  3,015,886  square  meters. 

The  average  daily  cleaning  for  the  year  was  2,983,908  square  meters. 
This  total  was  divided  as  follows: 

Stone  (granite)  pavement   2,122,818  square  meters 

Asphalt    421,217      "  " 

Macadam    438,873      "  " 

All  this  surface  was  cleaned  at  least  once  each  day,  the  larger  part 
being  cleaned  several  times  daily. 

The  total  paved  area  (3,015,886  square  meters,  about  one-fifth  area 
New  York  pavement)  was  divided  as  follows: 

Stone  (granite)  pavement   2,150,863  square  meters 

Asphalt    425,741      "  " 

Macadam    439,282      "  " 

2,215,845  square  meters  were  cleaned  more  than  once  a  day. 

FORCE. 

Average  number  of  men,  432;  300,  granite;  95,  asphalt;  31,  Macadam; 
6,  comfort  stations. 

The  average  distance  covered  by  one  sweeper  was  7,000  square 
meters. 

The  average  distance  covered  on  various  pavements  was 

Granite  (machines  used  in  addition)  . .      7,200  square  meters 

Asphalt  (machines  used  only  slightly)  4,500 

Macadam    14,200      "  " 

For  snow  removal,  additional  men  are  hired  when  needed.  The 
maximum  number  of  such  men  employed  was  1,627. 

43 


Wages,  regular  force 
extra  men  .  . 


500,760.61  marks 
42,951.16 


543,911.78  marks 

The  regular  force  consists  of  a  foreman,  detailed  sweepers,  sweep- 
•ers. 

Foremen  and  detailed  sweepers  are  required  to  have  had  three  years' 
experience  as  sweepers.  Each  foreman  has  charge  of  from  six  to  ten 
sweepers  and  is  paid  as  follows: 

3-  6th  year  of  service.  3.75  marks  per  diem. 
7-  9th-     "  "4  "       "  " 

io-i2th     "  "       4.25       "       "  " 

Over  12  years  of  service,  4.50       "       "  " 

Detailed  sweepers  (follow  up  gangs  and  sweep  on  principal  streets). 

4-  6th  year  of  service,  3.20  marks  per  diem. 
7-  9th     "  "  3.40 

io-i2th     "  "  3.60 

Sweepers  (paid  by  the  hour). 

1st  year   28  marks 

2nd  and  3rd  years  29  marks 

4th  year  and  over  30  marks 

On  Sundays  and  holidays  all  sweeping  is  done  during  4  or  5  early 
morning  hours. 

Once  in  8  weeks  each  sweeper  is  given  a  holiday  or  Sunday  without 
loss  of  pay. 

Uniforms  consisting  of  blue  blouse,  shirt  and  cap  are  worn  by  all 
employees  of  the  department.  These  uniforms  are  supplied  and  kept 
in  repair  by  the  department,  being  renewed  three  times  a  year  at  an 
average  cost  per  man  of  28.72  marks. 

A  day's  work  consists  of  ten  hours.  Occasionally  the  detailed 
.sweepers  are  required  to  work  one  or  two  hours  longer  in  the  busy 
streets.  Xo  sweeper  is  forced  to  work  overtime,  all  such  work  being 
voluntary  and  additionally  compensated. 

In  addition  13  men  were  employed  on  repairs. 
3  tailors  on  uniforms. 
7  janitors  at  district  stations. 

Total  employees,  December  31,  1902.  471  men,  five  of  whom  had 
been  over  25  years  in  the  service,  and  71  over  10  years. 

74  were  over  50  years  of  age,  one  being  over  70. 

All  the  employees  are  insured  in  the  workingmen's  insurance,  which 
.according  to  law,  is  partly  paid  by  the  city. 

44 


METHOD  OF  WORK. 

The  methods  of  cleaning  the  streets  varies  with  the  seasons.  The 
city  is  divided  into  nine  districts. 

Ordinarily,  the  streets  receive  one  thorough  and  one  supplementary 
cleaning  each  day.  The  busy  streets  receive  their  first  cleaning  during 
the  first  five  hours  in  the  morning  and  the  remainder  during  the  last 
five  hours. 

Stone  (granite)  pavements  are  swept  from — 

4  A.M.— 3:30  P.M.,  April-Sept. 

5  A.  M. — 4:30  P.  M.,  Oct.-March. 

Asphalt  (where  traffic  is  heavy)  4  A.  M. — 3:30  P.  M.  throughout  the 
year. 

The  second  or  supplementary  cleaning  is  performed  by  the  detailed 
sweepers  who  work  in  winter  between  the  hours  of  6  A.  M.  and  6 
P.  M.;  in  summer,  between  7  A.  M.  and  7  P.  M. 

On  Sundays  and  holidays  throughout  the  year  all  cleaning  is  done 
from  3  A.  M.  to  8:30  A.  M. 

The  sweeping  is  done  by  gangs  of  6  to  10  men  under  a  foreman,  who 
follow  an  established  route,  worked  out  with  the  character  and  the 
amount  of  traffic  taken  into  consideration.  There  are  three  methods 
employed:    a,  sweeping  machines;  b,  flushing;  c,  hand  sweeping. 

Sweeping  machines  are  used  on  the  streets  with  good  and  fairly 
even  stone  paving.  They  have  been  found  cheaper,  swifter  and  more 
efficient  than  hand  sweeping  on  this  character  of  pavement.  Occa- 
sionally, machines  are  used  on  asphalt  streets,  which  lie  within  the 
circuit  covered  by  the  machine  in  sweeping  the  stone  pavement. 

For  machine  sweeping  purposes  Dresden  was  in  1902,  divided  into 
34  routes,  containing  from  40,000  to  50,000  square  meters  of  pavement 
(including  footpaths).  The  more  used  streets  are  cleaned  first  in  the 
morning.  The  average  area  cleaned  by  a  machine  is  26,000  square 
meters. 

The  foreman  supervising  the  work  of  the  machine  sweepers  has  6  to 
10  men  brush  up  the  dirt  cast  by  the  machines  into  the  gutters.  The 
machines  are  provided  with  a  sprinkling  attachment. 

FLUSHING  (LIMITED  TO  ASPHALT). 

The  asphalt  streets  are  divided  into  13  routes,  each  containing  33,500 
square  meters  of  asphalt  surface.  The  cleaning  is  done  by  a 
gang  of  from  4  to  7  men  under  a  foreman.  First,  the  coarse  dirt  is 
removed  with  brooms,  then  the  surface  is  wetted  and  scraped  with 
rubber  squeeges.  The  coarse  dirt  is  removed  in  handcarts  and  the 
slime  worked  into  the  sewers.  Each  circuit  is  based  on  the  distance 
coverable  by  a  horse  in  5  hours. 


45 


In  less  frequented  streets  the  flushing  is  done  only  on  alternate  days, 
being  swept  with  brooms  on  every  other  day.  The  busy  streets  are 
flushed  every  day  when  the  temperature  is  above  the  freezing  point. 
When  heavy  rains  occur  the  first  sweeping  and  flushing  are  omitted, 
no  cleaning  being  done  except  by  the  detailed  sweepers  who  usually 
follow  up  the  gangs. 

All  streets  whose  surfaces  are  rough  or  uneven  are,  necessarily, 
cleaned  by  hand. 

IN  WINTER. 

Before  the  beginning  of  winter,  20  different  centers  are  established 
at  which  all  tools  needed  for  snow  removal  are  taken  in  good  season. 

For  snow  removal  purposes  the  city  is  again  divided  into  districts. 
To  each  district  a  foreman  and  2  regular  sweepers  are  detailed  with  as 
many  extra  men  as  the  character  of  the  snowfall  demands. 

Order  of  snow  removal: 

1st.  Walks  and  crossings  cleaned. 
2nd.    Driveways  as  traffic  requires. 

The  snow  is  loaded  by  hand.  In  1902  five  snowplows  were  used  for 
opening  up  avenues  for  traffic. 

EQUIPMENT. 

45  sweeping  machines. 
19  flushing  machines. 

84  hand  water  carts  (sprinkling  of  streets  before  and  during  sweep- 
ing)- 

169  handcarts. 

On  a  fairly  good  street,  a  sweeping  machine  can  clean  thoroughly 
5,500  square  meters  per  hour. 

During  the  year  3  squeeges  were  used  to  every  1,000  square  meters 
of  asphalt  surface  cleaned. 

68,370  rush  brooms. 

2,860  straw  brooms. 

477  special  brooms. 

The  total  expenditure  for  supplies  in  1902  was  118,428  marks. 

55,550  pounds  of  salt  were  used  to  melt  snow. 

46 


CARTING. 


Sweepings  are  carted  away  over  the  less  used  streets  to  outlying 
points  where  they  are  reloaded  upon  the  carts  of  contractors.  For 
an  average  daily  use  of  from  20  to  30  carts  there  was  an  expenditure 
for  carting,  in  1902,  of  51,042  marks.  The  carting  of  sweepings  is 
paid  for  in  a  lump  sum  on  the  contract. 

Snow  carting,  however,  is  paid  for  by  the  cartload.  The  rates  per 
cartload  vary  according  to  the  length  of  haul,  i.  e.,  for  500  meters,  1 
mark;  for  500  to  2,500  meters,  2  marks. 

Strict  supervision  is  kept  by  the  department  over  the  number  of 
loads  hauled  by  the  contractor.  Department  sweepers  supervise  the 
loading  and  unloading  of  the  carts.  After  loading,  the  driver  receives 
two  identically  numbered  tickets,  a  triplicate  being  kept  by  the  in- 
spector. Upon  this  triplicate  the  inspector  must  write  the  number  of 
cart  to  which  the  ticket  and  the  duplicate  were  given.  The  color  of 
the  ticket  indicates  the  distance  of  the  loading  point  from  the  nearest 
dump.  The  cartmen,  on  dumping,  surrender  one  of  the  tickets  to  the 
dump  inspector,  dropping  it  into  a  locked  box.  The  other  he  gives  to 
the  contractor.  On  the  day  following  the  amount  due  the  contractor 
is  promptly  calculated. 

A  two  horse  team  must  remove  a  load  of  not  less  than  three  cubic 
meters. 

The  snow  is  clumped  into  the  larger  sewers  and  into  the  River  Elbe. 

In  1902  there  was  61,455  cubic  meters  of  snow  carted.  Of  this  total, 
49,161  cubic  meters  were  carted  by  two  horse  teams. 

12,294  cubic  meters  were  taken  away  in  hand  carts. 

Of  the  total  removed,  31,269  cubic  meters  was  dumped  into  the 
sewers,  17,892  cubic  meters  being  carted  to  the  river.  On  days  of  little 
snowfall  and  when  the  snow  was  packed  teams  were  hired  by  the  day 
and  the  payment  of  removal  by  the  cartload  dispensed  with. 

SPRINKLING. 

The  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  also  sprinkles  the  streets  to  lay 
the  dust.  Teams  and  drivers  are  furnished  by  a  contractor  and  the 
work  is  inspected  by  detailed  sweepers  who  also  fill  the  carts.  Sprink- 
ling carts  are  used  as  ordered  only.  The  contractor  is  given  two 
hours'  notice,  which  is  cancelled  if  a  rain  storm  arises.  In  the  months 
of  March,  October  and  November,  sprinkling  is  done  between  10  A.  M. 
and  3  P.  M.;  in  the  months  of  April  and  September,  between  7  and  12 
A.  M.  and  1  and  6  P.  M.;  in  June,  July  and  August,  from  6  to  11  A.  M. 
and  1  to  6  P.  M.  The  contractors  are  paid  by  the  day.  Streets  and 
footpaths  are  sprinkled  from  one  to  four  times  a  day. 


47 


Taxpayers  of  New  York 

SIGNIFICANT  STEPS 


Reseaicb  (then  The  Bureau  of  City 
Betterment).  A  dispassionate  state- 
ment in  pamphlet  form  of  facts  call- 

nnfi  lack  of  system  in  the  office  of  the 
President  of  the  Borough  of  Manbat- 

President  Ahearn  asked  the  Mayc 
for  "thorough  investigation  of  tb 
affairs"  of  his  office  by  the  Commii 


vs.  Abearn's  Administration 


sioners  of  Accounts. 
December  3,  1906. 

Mayor  McCltllan  directed  the  Com- 
missioners of  Accounts  to  make  "a 
careful  and  exhaustive  examination 
of  the  affairs  of  President  Ahearn's 

December  8,  1906. 

John  Purroy  Mitchel  appointed  Spe- 
cial Assistant  Corporation  Counsel  to 


strati 


February  I,  1907. 

Results  of  its  a 


;d  in  trie  hands  of  Corpora- 
sel  by  Bureau  of  Municipal 


by  Commissioners  of  Accounts. 
April  8,  1907. 

Public  bearings  begun  by  Commis- 
sioners of  Accounts,  conducted  by  the 
Special  Assistant  Corporation  Counsel 
and  the  Director  of  the  Bureau. 
April  22,  1907. 

Mr.    Mitchel    appointed  Commis- 
sioner of  Accounts. 
Hay  18,  1907. 

President  Ahearn  removed  William 


isident  Ah. 
20,  1907. 


resign  as  Commis 
Works  he  used  thes 
been  talking  with  so 


who  don't  belong  to  the  Organization, 
who  the  public  will  take  up  and  the 
newspapers  make  a  gieat  time  over 
and  say,  ■  Ahearn  is  doing  the  proper 
thing  ;'  and  after  a  little  while  it  will 
quiet  down  and  you  can  come  back 


Hay  22,  1907. 

William  H.  Walker,  Superintende 
of  Public  Buildings  and  Offices,  i 
moved  by  President  Ahearn  in  cons 


May  3  I,  1907. 

Chief  Engit 
Highways  res 
Mr.  Ahearn. 
July  16,  1907. 

listed  Their  n 


Bureau  of 


ind  < 


the  inefficien 
upti, 


Clos, 


ord 


pected  in  greater  or  less  degre< 
department  of  the  City  G 
when,  as  in  the  office  of  the  President 
of  the  Borough  of  Manhattan,  there  is 
an  unscientific  distribution  of  Govern- 

trolling  and  informing  system  of 
accounts  and  periodic  reports." 

July  18,  1907. 

Mayor  McClellan  transmitted  report 
of  Commi-sionersof  Accounts  to  Gov- 
ernor Hughes. 

July  21,  1907. 

New  York  World  published  a  state- 


of  Manhattan  Borongn 

SIGNIFICANT  RESULTS 


If  nr  Ahearn  is  Removed  the  Cities 
of  New  York  State  Will  Have  Dis- 
covered  a  Direct  and  Effective  Way  of 
Correcting  Administrative  Abuses  and 
of  Promoting  Administrative  Effi- 
ciency. 

The  ' '  recall  "  provided  in  the  new  Des 
Moines  charter  necessitates,  (t)  petition 
by  25  per  cent,  of  the  voters,  and  (2)  a 
special  election.  If  Mr.  Ahearn  is  re- 
moved for  incompetence,    it  will  be 

or  organization  possessing  proof  of  in- 


npti 


be 


taken  on  the  basis  of  such  information 
without  the  delay  required  to  secure 
petition  by  25  per  cent  of  the  voters  and 
a  majority  vote  at  a  special  election. 
A  premium  will  thus  be  placed  upon 
official  conduct  that,  when  recorded  and 


If  nr.  Ahearn  is  Not  Removed,  The 
Ahearn  Trial  Will  Still  Have  Con- 
ferred a  Three-Fold  Benefit. 

(1)  Mr.  Ahearn's  lax  methods  have  in 
large  measure  been  removed  and  are 
absolutely  discredited  in  the  public 
mind.     As  shown  in  the  above-men- 


e;  Vonlmfcsioner  "of^PuWic 
1  liompsi'D  joits  politicians  by 
out  methods  of  giatt.  saving 
llker's  old 


3ths- 


last 


July  15,  1907. 

City  Club  formally  preferred  charges 
against  President  Ahearn,  based  upon 


September  10,  1907 

Governor  Hughes  began  hearings 

October  ?3-24,  1907. 

had  appointed  his  assistants  for  politi- 
cal reasons;  that  he  employed  no 
means  of  testirg  their  efficiency  or  in- 
efficiency ;  that  he  trusted  his  appoint- 
ees, whose  training  fitted  them  quite 
as  well  for  their  duties  as  had  his 
training  fitted  him  for  the  Borough 

November  12,  1907. 

Final  briefs  filed  with  Governor 
Hughes  bv  Messrs.  Spenser  &•  Strong. 
Counsel  for  City  Club,  and  Mr.  Little 
ton.  Counsel  for  Mr.  Ahearn. 


and 


.  The 
need  n 


inhibit  anti-public  impulses  and  to  ac- 
complish important  administrative  re- 
forms if  it  will  only  insure  records, 
accounts  and  reports  that  promptly  dis- 

nesty.  and  if,  In  addition,  the  public 
provides  itself  with  eyes  to  read  and 
interpret  these  records,  accounts  and  re- 

(2)  It  has  led  to  the  reorganization  of 
the  office  of  Commissioner  of  Accounts. 
"The  most  effective  (potentially)agency 
provided  by  the  charter  of  Greater  New 
York  for  producing  information  and  for 


(3)  HI 


^veredthe  responsibility 
and  authority  of  the  Mayor,  who.  through 
the   Commissioners  of  Accounts,  has 


Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  No.  2g. — Nov.  12,  igoj. 


Need  for  Municipal  Research:  Boston. 


THE  SOCIAL  SETTLER. 

In  an  address  before  the  American  Statis- 
tical \.;,,Ctat[. m  in  tin*  city  last  week,  Mr. 
William  H.  Allen,  secretary  of  the  Bureau 
of  Municipal  Research  of  New  York  City, 

encouraging  word  on  the  subject  of  munic- 


Setiler\  _ea 
regarding  t 


municipal  account- 
ice    or  inefficiency. 


methods  employed*  results  attained  by  t 


ublic-spirited  officials,  civic 
bodies,  and  the  press  will  be  able  to  trans- 
late obscure  and  misleading  public  records 
into  an  intelligible  and  illuminating  story-; 
to  photograph  official  function  and  political 
performance  side  by  side;  to  make  public 
opinion   itself  expert  in  determining  the 


V.-rk  City  c 
pal  government  ( 


efficient  than  it  should  1 


trial   incapacity;  th; 
(potentially)  agency  pi 
ter  of  Greater  New  Yc 


amount  of  preventable 
criminality  and  indus- 
at   the   most  effective 


•  Boston  Herald.  October  2jrd,  1907. 

MUNICIPAL  RESEARCH. 

,m.|-  11I-  nf  municipal  conditions 


ra!h 


recorded 


licipal  records.  Or 


1  nf  N'iav  Vork.  described  v 


;intr>  and  accomplishments 
successful  atfencv  for  gct- 
1  of  New  York  City* 


1  -[.•■<  eh,  have 


orced  reforms  in 
n.  have  saved 
stopped  graft 


Lddressed — 
the  official  statement  of  the 
..lu_"to  taxpayers  who  wish 


nunitv  needs  are  not  provided 
inicip.il  officers  who  wish  to  ob- 
support  for  efficient,  far-seeing 


:  public 


rewarded,  ar.d  also  aid 

i-iiv  government.  Inde< 
methn.l   of  the  bureau 


recognized  and 


j,  the  temper  and 
are  perhaps  best 
utntned  up  in  the  word  -'constructive,"  " 
tmet:.ve  publicity,  rather  1 
nd  carping  attack,  constructive 


Organized  in  January,  1906,  incorporated 
in  May  of  this  year,  the  bureau,  with  its 
1.1. -t-.  and  its  'Vunstructiw  publicity"  of 
these  facts,  has  to  its  credit  numerous  re- 

1     ■       •         II.    1     ,  -    .  I  ]  -  ■  ■ 

ing  the  Board  of  Aldermen  and  the  Board 
of  Estimate  to  order  that  all  future  budgets, 
departmental  and  general,  must  clearly  in- 
dicate for  what  specific  purposes  money 
voted  is  to  be  expended. 

The  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  arose 
from  the  dissatisfaction  of  "social  service 


and  in  steady  publication  and  1 


These  social  workers  believed  that  if  tax- 
pavers  knew  the  person  and  family  cost  of 
maladministration  111  terms  of  life  or  death, 


vigorously  and  with  gre 
effort.   They  were  fortunate  enough  in  find- 
inc  men  of  wealth  ready  to  back  the  experi- 


l,  -hows  their  practical  bearings,  both 
1  the  officials'  and  the  taxpayers'  stand- 
ts     Being  non-official  and  free  from 


ascertained  facts  to  press  home  its 
and  its  demand  for  reform.  What 


1  N.  Y.  Times  (Editorial)  Oct.  3jth,  7907. 

HOW  THE  CITY  CAN  SAVE. 


Bureaa  of  Municipal  Re< 


The  Boston  Herald  asks,  "\Vbat< 


COST  OF  STREET  CLEANING,  ETC. 

Income  (taxes,  assessments,  etc.)---    158,869  marks 
Expenditures   1,005,051  " 

Wages,  uniforms,  repairs,  insurance   77,7/6  marks 

Sweeping   c.  690,171  " 

Snow  removal    104,940  " 

Sprinkling    123,676 

Extras  and  sundries    8,488  " 


Total   1,005,051  marks 

Wages,  etc    77>77&  marks         62  per  cent,  street  cleaning. 

20  per  cent,  sprinkling. 

18  per  cent,  snow  removal. 

Total  expenditures: 

Street    cleaning    738,392.16  marks 

Snow  removal    120,491.25  '* 

Sprinkling    137,676.05 

Surface  cleaned : 

Street  cleaning    2,983,908  square  meters 

Snow  removal    2,983,908       "  " 

Sprinkling    3,472,544 

Cost  per  square  meter: 

Street  cleaning    24  75-100  pfennig 

Snow  removal   4  4-100 

Sprinkling    3  96-100  " 

For  cleaning  1  square  meter  of  asphalt  street   40.8  pfennig 

For  cleaning  1  square  meter  of  stone  pavement  (granite)  24.3 

For  cleaning  1  square  meter  of  macadam   11.4 

Cost  of  snow  removal  per  cubic  meter   1.96  marks 

Cost  of  snow  carting  per  cubic  meter   38.88  pfennig 

Sprinkling  1  cubic  meter  of  water   46.29  " 

Dresden,  September,  1903. 


48 


THE  BUREAU  OF  CITY  BETTERMENT 

*  OF  THE 

CITIZENS  UNION 

This  Bureau  has  been  established  for  the  purpose  of  eo-operating 
with  district  members  of  the  Citizens  Union,  with  individual  citizens, 
and  with  the  officials  and  employees  of  the  City  Government  in  secur- 
ing local  improvements  and  an  improved  city  administration  in  the 
City  of  New  York. 

The  Bureau  will  give  prompt  and  careful  attention  to  any  com- 
munication that  may  be  sent  to  it.  Personal  inquiry  or  complaint 
may  be  made  at  the 

OFFICE  OF  THE  BUREAU, 

254  FOURTH  AVENUE,  CORNER  20th  STREET. 


